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Specialist clinics
6 OCTOBER 2019 • HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONS
Proton beam therapy can prove to be life-changing for breast cancer patients
Te increasing availability of pioneering proton beam therapy treatment could prove to be life-changing for breast cancer patients in the UK
Breast cancer is the most common in the UK, accounting for almost a sixth of all cancers. One person is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes and one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetimes. Over the course of October’s Breast
Cancer Awareness Month, 5,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. While survival rates have been improving in recent decades, there’s clearly scope for greater progress. Proton beam therapy — a relatively
new treatment in the UK — is increas- ingly viewed as a potentially trans- formative treatment option for breast cancer patients. Over the past year, the UK has seen its provision of proton beam therapy facilities increase significantly. Te treatment arrived in the UK just last year through the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales in Newport and there are now two additional Rutherford Cancer Centres in Reading and Northumber- land, with a fourth under construc- tion in Liverpool. Each centre can treat 500 patients with proton beam therapy. Tis is in addition to the Christie NHS Trust, which now also provides proton beam therapy. Proton beam therapy is a type of radi-
otherapy that delivers heavy particles in the form of charged protons in a more targeted manner to reduce damage to peripheral tissue and organs. Its high precision and ability to stop at a defined point means that it has the potential to reduce long-term side effects. Tis could be particularly effective for breast cancer patients, as conventional treat- ments can have long-term emotional and physical side-effects.
THE INCREASING PROTON THERAPY CAPACITY IN THE UK WILL BRING ABOUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO UK CANCER CARE
Te main advantage of proton beam
therapy for breast cancer patients is that it can, in some patients, consid- erably reduce radiation doses to the heart and lungs by accurately targeting cancer cells. By reducing radiation dose to the heart, proton beam therapy can reduce the risk of radiation-induced heart problems in the future. Professor Peter Barrett-Lee, who
has more than 25 years of experience in treating breast cancer and is quali- fied to deliver proton beam therapy for breast cancer patients, said: “While proton beam therapy may not be the solution for all breast cancer patients, it can prove to be highly effective in minimising the toxicity on healthy tissues, especially the heart, lungs and contralateral breast, where even a minimal dose of radiation could lead to a secondary tumour. “Proton beam therapy could deliver
treatment for breast cancer patients with fewer risks and side effects.” Tere are more than 90,000 cancer patients in the UK who
require
radical radiotherapy and at least 10% of these patients — the figure accepted throughout Europe — could
be better treated with proton therapy. Te Rutherford Cancer Centres hope that
the increasing proton therapy
capacity in the UK will bring about significant changes to UK cancer care and specifically for breast cancer patients. Its centre in South Wales can now treat adult NHS patients thanks to a landmark agreement with the Welsh government, while its centre in the North East has a similar arrange- ment with Northumbria NHS Trust to treat cancer patients with chemo- therapy on the NHS. Rutherford Health plc, the company
that operates the Rutherford Cancer Centres, hopes to make proton beam therapy accessible within a 90-minute drive for 75% of the population.
Cancer Centres
For more information, T: 0800 210 0402
therutherford.com
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