HUNDREDS of women who claimed their lives were ruined by high dosage cancer treatment could have their cases investigated.

The Government has announced it is considering a top-level probe into how experimental cervical cancer treatment at Christie Hospital, Manchester, may have wrecked their lives. Among them is pensioner Catherine Mercer, of Sands Road, Rishton, who claimed the Selectron treatment left her with horrific internal injuries.

The 70-year-old mother-of-nine claimed she was not told the treatment was part of a trial and could cause dreadful side-effects.

But health minister Tom Sackville has given the first indication that Whitehall is ready to launch an inquiry.

Campaign group Rage has alleged that hundreds of women, including Mrs Mercer, were affected across the UK.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson, who has taken up the case, said the women went into Christie for what they believed was normal treatment for cervical cancer but were given the experimental high radiation Selectron treatment. They later discovered that many of their vital organs had been burned away by the radiotherapy and that their lives had turned into an endless round of pain and operations.

Mr Sackville admitted there had been problems in the experimental period with the Selectron machine, but it was now widely and successfully used,.

But he said it had been wrong to test the machine on women without telling them they were undergoing an experiment.

He said a probe into the cervical cancer victims was a possibility.

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