A leading County Durham small animal hospital is set to boost its industry-leading cancer treatment after investing in a pioneering machine.

Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham, near Newton Aycliffe, has installed a top-of-the-range Clinivet electrochemotherapy model. This makes it the only veterinary referral centre in the north-east of England to offer this pioneering treatment.

The state-of-the-art model can only be found in a handful of veterinary practices across the UK. 

The Northern Echo: Aaron Harper with a patient, of Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham.

Aaron Harper, European veterinary specialist in small animal oncology and head of oncology at Wear said the investment would offer a fantastic treatment option for patients at the hospital.

Aaron said: “The addition of the Clinivet electrochemotherapy machine will significantly improve the already excellent care we can provide to some of our patients in the oncology service.

“We are excited to add this treatment modality to the range of options we have for treating cancer in dogs and cats, and it strengthens our multidisciplinary specialist approach to cancer in the hospital.”

Electrochemotherapy works by passing a small electric current across a tumour which increases its susceptibility to chemotherapy.

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It can be used for many solid tumours that otherwise cannot be treated by traditional chemotherapy. Wear Referrals anticipates using it to treat skin and oral tumours that may not be candidates for surgery.

The hospital, which earlier this year starred in 24/7 Pet Hospital, a fly-on-the-wall BBC One series, is already the only specialist veterinary oncology service in the north-east of England.

Wear also specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anaesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, OOH emergency and critical care, orthopaedics and soft tissue.