大象传媒

The Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow is the second biggest in the UK. It treats a population of almost three million people across the west of Scotland, from Lanarkshire to Ayrshire and up to the Western Isles. A centre of excellence in cancer care, the Beatson offers state-of-the-art treatment and is heavily involved in the development and trials of new cancer drugs.

This three-part series tells the stories of patients undergoing treatment at the Beatson, shows the work of the medical staff, and reveals how cancer care has improved in leaps and bounds in the past decade. Each programme focuses on a different cancer - breast, lung, and prostate. These are among the most common in the UK, accounting for a large proportion of cancer deaths each year, and the Beatson is developing new, innovative approaches to their treatment.

Episode three explores lung cancer and the advances in radiotherapy through the story of 85-year-old Mae, who has a small tumour that can now be treated with a new form of radiotherapy that has minimal side effects. We show how lung cancer can affect non-smokers like Steven, who was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in his late 50s, and whose quality of life is being maintained thanks to an ever-developing prescription of new drugs. And we explore the crucial importance of clinical trials for the advancement of treatment with a focus on May, who is a passionate advocate for the effectiveness and importance of volunteering for clinical trials when all other treatments have failed.

Throughout the series, senior doctors and other staff provide a sense of context for the stories and explain the reality of modern cancer treatment, and how, thanks to new treatments, the diagnosis is no longer quite the terrifying and hopeless prospect it once was.