Machine ‘may speed up cancer treatment’
12/25/2007 Melbourne, Australia staff news.theage.com.au A state-of-the-art radiation machine being trialled in Australia could revolutionise cancer treatment, saving patients time and money, doctors said. Doctors at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital are confident the new $2.5 million linear accelerator, now in use for intermediate or phase two trials on early stage breast cancer patients, would be of particular benefit to women from rural and remote areas. Dr Margot Lehman, a radiation oncologist conducting the trial, said women were being recruited at five centres in Australia, and two in New Zealand, under the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG). "If we can prove this is a feasible treatment option, then we will be going to a full-blown phase three trial where we will be comparing this technique with the standard six-week course for women with early stage breast cancer who have had breast conserving treatment," she said. PA Hospital's director of radiation oncology services Professor Bryan Burmeister said women in rural or remote areas often opted for a mastectomy rather than spending the time and money on travelling and accommodation needed for six weeks of treatment. "Now they only have to spend a week and that is a huge difference, in terms of cost, in terms of quality of life and numerous other things," he said. Older machines only targeted tumours in relation to the nearest bones, he said. But the new generation technology pinpointed tumours in soft tissue, enabling radiation treatment to be carried out on a smaller area and over [...]