Have you had experience of microwave ablation (energy) for a liver tumour?

Some patient with liver tumours can benefit from microwave ablation – through a special needle - to kill the tumour cells.

How you can help

The National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE) will be drafting guidance to the NHS, determining whether microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma is safe and works well enough to be used more widely in the NHS by clinicians, such as consultants. This guidance will cover England, Wales and Scotland.

Patients and carers – particularly those who have experienced this procedure - are invited to give their written views as part of this consultation on whether our draft guidance has anything important missing or factually wrong and whether you agree with the recommendations made. We have a short questionnaire you can use to do this.

The consultation on this procedure runs from 21 November 2006 to 19 December 2006 as part of NICE’s Interventional Procedures Programme.

Patient and carer comments will be presented to the decision-making committee, and responses to comments will be published with the final guidance.

NICE would like to reassure that patient and patient organisation comments really can make a difference, and previous comments by both have led to changes in NICE recommendations and the wording of their guidance.

Experience of this particular procedure would be particularly useful, but comments are also most welcome from patients or carers who can comment on this procedure from a patient perspective e.g. because they have the condition it treats or have had an alternative procedure for the same condition.

A patient information guide will be available. Support to complete the consultation questionnaire can also be offered by the Project Manager for Patient Involvement, Joanna Pearl, on: joanna.pearl@nice.org.uk or on 0207 067 4767.

All interested parties are welcomed and should contact Joanna (preferably by e-mail) in the first instance or you can contact coordinator@hepb.org.uk

You can also keep in touch with the progress of procedures by using the NICE website www.nice.org.uk