The Darth Vader actor David Prowse has unleashed the force of London’s most powerful MRI scanner at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

The £13m imaging centre at the Belmont site cannot obliterate galactic civilisations but will prove invaluable in the fight against cancer.

Its main benefits will be to identify previously undetectable early-stage tumours and to assist research scientists in developing drugs.

Mr Prowse, a Croydon resident best know for his role in the first three Star Wars films, was treated for prostate cancer at the Marsden earlier this year.

He said: “I was well cared for and my treatment was a success, but not everyone diagnosed with cancer is as lucky as me.

"I am very happy to support this initiative, which should ultimately help other people survive a cancer diagnosis.”

Three other cancer imaging centres are being built around the country, each equipped with the powerful 3T scanner and a magnetic resonance tissue scanner.

Machines at the Marsden are being funded by the Medical Research Council, the Wolfson Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research.

Initially they will be used on cancer patients involved in clinical trials at the neighbouring Institute of Cancer Research.

Professor Nandita deSouza, co-director of the centre, said: “The new scanner will allow us to get a better picture of the shape as well as the behaviour of tumours.

"I am greatly excited about the potential of this equipment.

"It will hugely improve our ability to detect and diagnose cancer and to determine if drug treatments are working.”

Professor Martin Leach, also a co-director, said: “We can use the scanner to watch how new drugs affect the cancer, allowing us to assess how patients are responding to treatment.

"This could ultimately speed up the process of developing new cancer drugs.”

Up to 24 multi-disciplinary staff members, including senior scientists and a lecturer in radiology, will be based at the new Marsden imaging centre.

  • A survivor's tale
  • Michelle Stepney and her lively twin daughters are living testimony to the benefits of the state-of-the-art MRI scanner in monitoring small tumours.

Two years ago the Sutton Guardian reported how Michelle, 37, from Cheam, had cervical cancer diagnosed when she was 19 weeks pregnant.

Doctors discovered the tumour only when it was dislodged by the constant kicking in the womb of her then unborn girls, Alice and Harriet.

Under the guidance of Nandita deSouza, from the Institute of Cancer Research, she delayed treatment, which would have terminated the pregnancy.

Last Friday Michelle said: “Thanks to the advanced MRI technology, Professor deSouza and her team were able to work out precisely how far the cancer had grown.

“After a thorough examination, it was decided my surgery could be delayed long enough to carry the twins to delivery.

"While I was still pregnant, I received six treatments of chemotherapy, and the doctors delivered Alice and Harriet at 33 weeks by Caesarean section.

“Four weeks later, in January 2007, I underwent a radical hysterectomy and, by the next month, I was given the all-clear.

"Alice and Harriet are now aged two-and-a-half, and strong and healthy, and I can’t say thank you enough to the people who looked after me.”

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