The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and the University of East Anglia (UEA) hosted the first European masterclass on minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection and hands-on cadaveric training –specialist procedures used for penile cancer patients.

The masterclass, which took place over two days on July 11 and 12 on both the NNUH and UEA sites, welcomed seven penile cancer specialist surgeons from different parts of the UK and a specialist from Belgium.

Currently, the trust is the only centre in the UK offering this procedure and is one of the top four leading cancer centres in the world delivering this procedure.

Mr Vivekanandan Kumar, consultant urological surgeon at NNUH said: 'NNUH is one of the leading cancer centres in the UK, so the masterclass was a fantastic opportunity for surgeons to come together to share clinical practice. This masterclass will enable these surgeons to roll out this procedure to benefit their group of patients across the UK and Europe.'

Video-endoscopic inguinal lymphnode dissection is offered to penile cancer patients if the cancer has spread to groin lymphnodes. This minimally invasive key hole procedure has been offered to NNUH patients since 2013, and has reduced the complication rate of the procedure from 68pc to 6pc.

Mr Kumar has also had a peer-review article on this subject published in BJU International - a leading urology journal that provides the highest standard of research and clinical information for the urological community.

Mark Davies, chief executive at NNUH said: 'Our teams provide excellent specialist cancer treatments and we are incredibly proud of our staff, our state of the art cancer facilities and the care we provide for our patients. The masterclass demonstrates the importance of sharing best clinical practice and I thank those involved in making this happen.'