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The treatment, known as Papillon, could allow patients with rectal cancer to avoid the need for a stoma
Storm NewtonTuesday 02 December 2025 11:28 GMTComments
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A pioneering low-energy X-ray treatment for a specific type of cancer has received approval for use within the NHS, potentially allowing patients to avoid invasive surgery.
The therapy, named Papillon, has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). It is specifically endorsed for fit rectal cancer patients whose tumours are 3cm or smaller, and who either choose not to undergo surgery or are deemed to be at high risk for such procedures.
Papillon operates as a form of brachytherapy, where an X-ray tube is carefully inserted through the anus and into the rectum. This method delivers precise, low doses of radiation directly to the cancerous tumours.
A significant benefit of this non-surgical option is that patients could bypass the necessity of a stoma – an abdominal opening connected to the digestive system that diverts waste into an external bag.
Nice said that avoiding this procedure “substantially improves” quality of life.
People with larger tumours may also become eligible for the Papillon procedure if other treatments reduce their tumour to 3cm or less.
open image in gallerySharon Price and her husband Nathan of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. Mrs Price was successfully treated after being diagnosed with rectal cancer at 45, using a new therapy that helps cancer patients avoid surgery given go-ahead for NHS use. (Family Handout/PA Wire)Papillon was pioneered by Professor Sun Myint, a consultant in clinical oncology at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside.
He said: “I have been treating patients with this therapy for more than 33 years, which equates to about 3,000 people.
“This decision is a great victory for patients who will now have a choice for the treatment they prefer.
“It is wonderful that patients will now be given a choice of treatment and many of them will have a much better quality of life later because of it.”
Prof Myint led the Opera trial, which followed patients for five years.
It found Papillon helped preserve organs 93 per cent of the time in cases of rectal cancer where tumours measured 3cm or less.
Sharon Price was successfully treated as part of the study after being diagnosed with rectal cancer at 45.
Main symptoms of bowel cancer
NHS
Symptoms of bowel cancer may include:
- changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you
- needing to poo more or less often than usual for you
- blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- bleeding from your bottom
- often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet
- tummy pain
- a lump in your tummy
- bloating
- losing weight without trying
- feeling very tired or short of breath – these are signs of anaemia, which can be caused by bowel cancer
The NHS worker from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire said: “I was faced with the possibility of surgery, which would mean that I’d have to live with a stoma for the rest of my life.
“That was devastating – I was just too young to have to go through that. I was offered the chance to join the clinical trial, and I decided to do it immediately.”
open image in galleryProfessor Sun Myint, a consultant in clinical oncology at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside, who has pioneered a new method that uses low energy X-rays to treat rectal cancer. (Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust/PA Wire)Dr Caroline Brammer, medical director at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said: “Prof Myint is a world authority on the Papillon technique and thousands of Clatterbridge patients have benefited from this non-surgical treatment over the decades.
“It is heartening to know that many more patients across the NHS will now have the same opportunity.
“This development will help reduce surgical waiting lists and costs to the NHS and improve quality of life for many patients with rectal cancer.”
Prof Myint, who is 77 and still working as a consultant, said: “I feel that I have done my job and I can now hang up my gloves, but not until this treatment is embedded as the standard of care in the NHS and across the world.”
Colorectal cancer – which includes cancers of the rectum, bowel and colon – is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with more than 41,000 new cases diagnosed every year.
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