Not all radiotherapy is equal

A friend of mine has got prostate cancer. He told me he was going to have radiotherapy. I asked him what sort. He didn’t know.

Now to me, for a highly intelligent person not to understand the different types of radiotherapy available makes no sense. If I had prostate cancer I’d want to make sure that the radiation beam being used was being aimed specifically at my prostate and not the surrounding normal tissue.

Why? Because the side effects of most kinds of radiotherapy are caused by collateral damage to normal tissue, in particular the bowel and the bladder. When these critically sensitive tissues receive radiotherapy, the early side effects can include diarrhoea, bleeding and often a bladder infection.

However, it is the later side effects that are more worrying; the bowel can be severely damaged resulting in profound clinical problems for many years. These can all be avoided by making sure the radiation delivery is as precise as possible

For all these reasons, if I had prostate cancer I would go to a treatment centre that could guarantee more precise treatment: image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

CancerPartnersUK is creating a network of private cancer centres, run by leading medical professionals providing exactly this type of radiotherapy.

Contact us to find out more about how we can help with your treatment and read what our patients say about us.

Karol Sikora
Medical Director

Long waits for radiotherapy linked to increased recurrence of breast cancer Professor Karol Sikora comments on new research published in BMJ 3.03.10

A large US study published today shows that there is a strong correlation between delay in accessing radiotherapy for breast cancer and the incidence of local recurrence. A steady rise in recurrence developed when the time from surgery to radiotherapy exceeded 8 weeks.


 Professor Karol Sikora, Medical Director of CancerPartnersUK said,
"Oncologists have believed for some time that prompt access to radiotherapy for breast cancer is important. This study demonstrates the importance of timely intervention if the best results are to be obtained. It also underpins the urgent need to implement the 31 day waiting target in the NHS.

Unfortunately the lack of machine capacity and trained staff in many parts of the country means that it simply may not be possible. Increasing our investment in radiotherapy is vital if we are to climb up the European survival league for several common cancers.

New ways of working, better IT systems, developments in technology and more trained staff are the key to giving our patients the best results possible."

Further BMJ editorial comment.


Notes:
CancerPartnersUK is an independent organisation set up by a group of cancer experts to improve the overall quality and availability of cancer services across the UK, particularly in radiotherapy. The organization works with hospitals and healthcare companies to set up improved cancer care facilities, through a combination of new technologies, highly qualified medical teams and expert knowledge of cancer care pathways. http://www.cancerpartnersuk.org/ 





Contacts: Karol Sikora - 07901 556453
Lyn Wallace (PR) - 07734 101024 / lyn@wallacehcl.com