A prostate cancer patient has become the first person in
New Zealand to receive radiation treatment using
ground-breaking new radiation technology.
He has just
completed a 10-day course of treatment at St George’s
Cancer Care Centre in Christchurch, using the country’s
first MR Linac machine. This new technology allows the
radiation oncologist to view an MRI scan showing the shape,
position and size of tumours and adjust the direction and
strength of the radiation treatment in real time, with the
patient in front of them. Its name comes from the
combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a linear
accelerator (Linac) which directs radiation at
tumours.
Traditionally, patients have their tumour
scanned with a CT scanner before their first radiation
treatment, and these images are used to plan their course of
treatment. With the MR Linac, the patient has MRI scans
during their treatment.
More detailed, real-time MR
Linac imaging means higher doses of radiation treatments can
be given with greater precision. This means less risk of
radiation affecting surrounding healthy tissue, which can
cause side effects. It also means fewer treatments are
required – so patients need less time off work or away
from home and family. This can be the difference between
five treatments over 10 days, instead of 20 treatments over
four weeks.
“Cancer treatment is constantly
advancing. Every so often there is a transformational change
– and the MR Linac is one of those. Having this technology
available here makes St George’s Cancer Care Centre New
Zealand’s national centre for excellence for cancer
treatment,” says Dr Brendon Anderson, Clinical Director,
and radiation oncologist.
“This is a major
breakthrough for some soft tissue cancers, such as
pancreatic cancer. We can now clearly see tumours daily with
high-definition MR imagery. Our bodies naturally move as we
breathe, swallow and digest and the MR Linac allows us to
take that movement into account during treatment.
“A
difference of just a few millimetres can have a significant
impact. Knowing exactly where the tumour is, in relation to
the movement of the patient, gives us a huge advantage in
terms of accuracy and precision of treatment,” Dr Anderson
says.
“This technology has been developed over the
last five years and is truly ground-breaking. We feel
immensely privileged to be able to offer it here. Our
patients will have shorter treatment programmes and better
quality of life throughout their
treatment.”
“Initially we are treating prostate
cancers using the MR Linac, and we will then start treating
other soft tissue cancers.
“We are very excited that
the MR Linac now enables us to treat some cancers that were
previously unsuitable for radiation treatment. Pancreatic
cancer is an example of this.”
St George’s Cancer
Care Centre is a joint venture between St George’s
Hospital and a group of Christchurch oncologists. The Centre
is supported by the St George’s Cancer Institute, which
raises funds for equipment and services at the Centre and
raised $20 million to purchase the new MR Linac, the
purpose-built facility to house it, and two new linear
accelerators (one expected to arrive later this year and the
other in 2026). The MR Linac purchase was finalised in 2020
and the machine is only the 100th to be produced
worldwide.
“We are excited and proud to have New
Zealand’s first MR Linac, says the Centre’s General
Manager Caroline Stark . “We are pleased to offer our
patients this cutting-edge technology and to continue our
vision of leading cancer services in New
Zealand.”
She says the MR Linac is attracting staff
who want to work with the MR Linac. “Word has also reached
patients who are researching treatment options and some of
those joined a waiting list for treatment on the machine
months before it was due to treat its first patient,” she
says.
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