A 92-year-old great-grandmother has become the first person in the UK to receive a pioneering cancer treatment after being told her liver tumour was inoperable.
Brenda Iveson, from Harrogate in North Yorkshire, was initially told conventional cancer therapies, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, would be ineffective against the six-centimetre tumour in her liver.
However, medics at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust offered her a minimally invasive alternative, robotic-guided electrochemotherapy – a treatment that combines a small dose of chemotherapy with targeted electrical pulses.
Surgeons used robotic needle guidance to precisely position needles around the tumour, directing the treatment in a method never before performed in the UK.
Now Mrs Iveson’s tumour has shrunk by around 80 per cent.
Due to the tumour’s location and her frailty, Mrs Iveson had been told “nothing could be done” following her diagnosis in late 2025.
But when Professor Tze Min Wah, research and innovation lead for the interventional oncology programme at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and professor of interventional radiology at the University of Leeds, saw Mrs Iveson’s case, she realised that the pioneering treatment could offer hope to Mrs Iveson and her family.
Clinicians used robotic needle guidance to precisely place needles around the tumour.
The technology helps improve the accuracy of the electrochemotherapy, particularly for tumours in complex or hard-to-reach areas.
The treatment was carried out under general anaesthetic and does not use heat, which means it can safely treat tumours located close to vital structures such as blood vessels and bile ducts.
It is the first time this treatment has been delivered alongside the robotic guidance in a liver in the UK, Leeds Teaching Hospitals said.
Mrs Iveson said: “I had been told there was nothing that could be done.
“So to be offered this treatment gave me real hope. I’m so glad I went ahead — it wasn’t painful or debilitating, and I feel very well.”
Professor Wah said: “This treatment allowed us to offer an option where there would otherwise have been none.
“The addition of robotic guidance improves precision and opens up new possibilities, particularly for patients with tumours in difficult locations or who are not suitable for other treatments.”
She said: “Introducing robotic guidance really helped with this particular case, the needles provided more accurate placement and made the treatment times shorter – she is the UK first for the robotic guidance to insert the electrode chemotherapy needles into the tumour for treatment.
“She is doing well and she is very grateful that she has had this treatment because otherwise she did not have any other options.”
Main symptoms of liver cancer
NHS
Symptoms of liver cancer can include:
- the whites of your eyes turning yellow or your skin turning yellow, which may be less obvious on brown or black skin (jaundice) – you may also have itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual
- loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
- feeling tired or having no energy
- feeling generally unwell or having symptoms like flu
- a lump in the right side of your tummy
Other symptoms can affect your digestion, such as:
- feeling or being sick
- pain at the top right side of your tummy or in your right shoulder
- symptoms of indigestion, such as feeling full very quickly when eating
- a very swollen tummy that is not related to when you eat
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is currently the only hospital in the UK delivering liver cancer electrochemotherapy as part of a European research study.
The study is assessing the safety and efficacy of the treatment for patients with liver cancer. It is also examining the impact of survival, quality of life and pain.
Mrs Iveson, who has been happily married for 70 years, said: “Research may offer real results when there are no other options.
“You’re looked after so well, and it’s how medicine moves forward. If it helps me and future patients, then it’s worth it.”
Current scans show that Mrs Iveson’s tumour is in a stable condition and she is being monitored closely by experts at the hospital trust.
“We are all happy that something could be done that might prolong my life and which was not painful or debilitating in any way,” Mrs Iveson added.
“It seems to be a very effective treatment and particularly useful in older patients who are frail.”