SPEAKER 1: When the decision is made to start the patient on photopheresis, the first thing we do is give them an information book so they can read and ask questions about their treatment. They will visit the room where the treatment is being given, and meet the nurses and caregivers, and also talk to other patients who are having the treatment. The treatment tends to start within one to two weeks of the referral,

Before a patient starts treatment with photopheresis, it's important to explain to them what the procedure involves. This involves traveling to the hospital and going to the specialized room where the treatment takes place. They will meet the nurses, and they'll be explained how the procedure will occur. Patients require a line going into one arm to draw out the blood, which is then put into a machine which takes out the white cells, adds a photosensitizer to them, and then shines UVA light to kill off the tumor cells.

These white cells will then go back into the blood through into the other arm. Occasionally, if patients haven't got good venous access, then a central line is inserted. The whole treatment process takes around 90 minutes, and then is repeated again the following day. Patients don't always have to stay overnight in hospital. For some, they do if they're traveling a long way and it's convenient, but otherwise they can travel to the hospital each day, but then have a two week break before the next treatment. And sometimes there's a longer break, up to four or six weeks between treatments.