National Proton Beam Therapy Centre

[Paul Edwards]

Since the start of this century there are been a number of proposals to establish a Proton Beam Therapy Centre in Australia.  The New South Wales Government has done a number of feasibility studies for a Proton Beam Therapy Centre in Eastern Sydney.   The South Australian Government put forward a proposal for a Centre in South Australia.   In 2014 an alliance between a commercial company, Proton Therapy Australia and Mater Health Services, Brisbane announced the building of Australia’s first proton therapy facility.

 

On 8 August 2016 the Victorian Government announced the establishment of a National Proton Beam Therapy Centre to be located in Melbourne's Parkville Medical Research Precinct.  It will be operated by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre with assistance from the University of Melbourne and other partners of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

 

Proton Beam Therapy is mainly used for adult cancers in the head and neck and cancers in children, due to its precision, reduced toxicity and reduced risk in causing cancers later in life.

 

Take a deep breath

 

Proton Beam Therapy is the much hyped latest and greatest technology and is extremely expensive.  But is it any better than existing conventional radiation treatments? 

 

At the moment there's little scientific evidence that Proton Beam Therapy is better than existing conventional radiation treatments.

 

In June 2016 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Scientific Meeting data was presented from the very first randomized clinical trial of three-dimensional proton beam radiation therapy (3D-PBRT) compared to intensity-modulated radiation therapy in the treatment of any type of cancer -  non-small cell lung cancer.

 

The "New" Prostate Cancer Infolink commented:

"Obviously this is not prostate cancer, but the outcomes of this trial do seem to confirm the suggestions that PBRT is not necessarily any better than other modern forms of conventional radiation therapy in the treatment of at least some common forms of cancer."

 

Click here to read the The "New" Prostate Cancer Infolink article.