PATIENTS in Colchester and north Essex will be able to access a life-extending 'magic bullet' treatment for a rare type of cancer.

Colchester Hospital is now offering the treatment for neuroendocrine tumours. 

The condition causes rare tumour which can develop in many different organs of the body.

It affects the cells that release hormones into the bloodstream.

The treatment previously meant patients from Ipswich and Colchester were sent to London or Cambridge however it will now be offered closer to home.

The so-called "magic bullet" is a type of lutetium molecular radiotherapy.

It provides a ray of hope where alternative treatments like chemotherapy aren't feasible.

Administered via injection into the bloodstream, the liquid radiotherapy works by directly targeting the tumours, stabilising or even shrinking them.

Leading the neuroendocrine tumour service at Colchester Hospital is Dr Mary McStay, a consultant gastroenterologist.

She said: "We have brought a specialist treatment closer to home for patients.

"We know some patients feel unable to travel due to being poorly, or they just don’t feel comfortable going to a London hospital for the treatment.

"Being able to offer this to patients from the Ipswich and Colchester area is a great step forward.

"We’re also hoping patients from the surrounding area will be able to come to Colchester Hospital for the treatment too."

NETs can emerge in any part of the body, most commonly in the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas.

They grow slowly but are often only diagnosed after spreading, leading to the unfeasibility of curative surgery.

Colchester Hospital is just one of two East England hospitals offering the life-extending therapy availability.

Dr McStay concluded: "This treatment is going to offer another avenue for patients and will give them a better quality of life.

"It isn’t a cure unfortunately but is life-extending."