A Southampton bowel cancer patient has become the first in the UK to receive radiotherapy during surgery using a revolutionary mobile device.

The 58-year-old man, who completed a combination of conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy in August, underwent major surgery at Southampton General Hospital earlier this week when a full dose of radiotherapy was delivered in theatre.

The dose was made possible through the use of Mobetron, the first portable system able to administer intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy (IOERT), an intensive form of targeted radiation.

The radiation, which is given at the time of surgery, is used to treat a variety of advanced cancers that are difficult to remove and treat.

Dr Shanmugasundaram Ramkumar, intraoperative radiotherapy lead at University Hospital Southampton (UHS), said: “We are extremely pleased to have treated our first patient in Southampton, who is also the first in UK, and we have another three patients planned to receive IOERT this month.

“For this gentleman, who received his standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy last year, IOERT is additional treatment to reduce his risk of local recurrence, and was previously only available in select cancer centres in the USA and Europe.”

IOERT is given by high-energy electron beams delivered with precision to specific locations inside the body immediately after a cancer has been removed.

This enables surgeons and oncology specialists to deliver much-higher doses to areas at a high risk of recurrence without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs seen with conventional external beam radiotherapy.

Mobetron was co-founded in 2010 by surgeon Neil Pearce, now associate medical director for patient safety at UHS, alongside some of his former patients and colleagues.

Just one-eighth the size of a standard external beam machine and used specifically for IOERT, the machine can be wheeled between theatres with the potential to be used to treat several patients every day.

Mobetron was tested by experts at the National Physical Laboratory in London before being transported to Southampton in June, and will be used initially to treat patients with pancreatic, neuroendocrine, colorectal and bladder tumours.

Its introduction was made possible by patient support group and charity PLANETS, which is part of Southampton Hospital Charity and fundraises for pancreatic, liver and neuroendocrine tumour services.

So far, PLANETS has raised £350,000 of the £500,000 required to fund the Mobetron system for the next three years.