Legacy of Bowelbabe finances installation of IR system at Royal Marsden

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, has installed a Philips Azurion 7 ceiling-mounted M20 interventional radiology (IR) system, following funding from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and the legacy of Dame Deborah James.

Dame Deborah, known on social media as ‘Bowelbabe,’ was treated at The Royal Marsden for incurable bowel cancer and IR played a key role in her care. Throughout treatment, she used her platform to advocate for early diagnosis and raise awareness of bowel cancer. The equipment and refurbishment of the IR suite at The Royal Marsden, including the newly-installed Azurion 7 M20, was funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity following a £1 million donation from the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK.

The Philips Azurion 7 M20 is designed to enable complex procedures with precision, delivering enhanced image quality and a streamlined user experience. This helps to accelerate the delivery of treatment to more patients and will enable precise targeting of tumours during some procedures, meaning more healthy tissue can be spared and side effects are reduced.

The integration of the equipment into The Royal Marsden’s IR department will also support research being carried out by clinicians, particularly in the field of tumour ablation and AI-guided chemoembolisation.

Consultant interventional radiologist Dr Nicos Fotiadis was part of Dame Deborah’s clinical team. He said: “Deborah always championed interventional radiology treatment, and it is wonderful that this new technology will help many patients with cancer in the future, enabling us to offer people less invasive treatment and develop new, improved ways of treating cancer.”

Picture: consultant interventional radiologist Dr Nicos Fotiadis (front and centre) and the IR team in the Deborah James Interventional Radiotherapy room at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea.

Read this report on page 21 of the August 2025 issue of RAD Magazine.