Clinic treats 1,000th cancer patient (From Borehamwood Times)

Clinic in Elstree treats 1,000th cancer patient

2:57pm Friday 6th July 2012 in News By Bruce Thain

A cancer clinic based in Elstree has treated its 1,000th patient in just two years.

The Elstree Cancer Centre, in Centennial Way, has been open for the last two years and reached the milestone last month.

Semi-retired publisher Lionel Leventhal, 74, from Elstree, was the centre's landmark patient and was treated for prostate cancer.

After being carefully monitored by doctors for ten years, Mr Leventhal was told he needed radiotherapy and was referred to the Elstree centre.

He said: “I’ve always tried to be positive and lived in hope that this wouldn’t happen. I guess there was an element of denial.

“I’d previously associated radiotherapy with horror stories and dreadful side effects. Like the majority of patients, I simply put myself in the hands of my oncologist.

“It wasn’t until the doctor explained, I realised the treatment I was being offered was different to what was available elsewhere.”

The treatment which Mr Leventhal received at the centre meant doctors were able to accurately target cancerous cells in the prostate.

“Even then, I tended to focus on the current step, rather than what potentially lay ahead, so it wasn’t until I was actually at the centre I fully appreciated all the benefits of the specific type of radiotherapy I was receiving.”

During his treatment he was able to continue with normal daily life, including advisory work with Greenhill Books which he previously owned and managed.

Following the treatment Mr Leventhal will now have regular check-ups every six months with his oncologist, Dr Stephen Karp.