Download Improving Cure of Cancer Patients

Improving Cancer Therapy
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Europe, being responsible for 26% of all fatalities. 2.4
million people developed the disease in 2008, and the annual rate is only slightly decreasing (OECD
(2010), Health at a Glance: Europe 2010, OECD Publishing). With regard to the continually rising life
expectancy within the EU it is therefore essential not only to keep on focussing on treatment itself,
but also to increase the disease-free survival period and to improve the quality of life after therapy.
Treatment that can meet these demands will have a positive impact on productivity and
competitiveness as it keeps people healthy and active for a longer period of time. This aspect is
exceedingly important for children suffering from cancer. Moreover, these improvements will make
the healthcare sector more sustainable as costly after treatment and rehab measurements can be
reduced.
Cancer treatment is based on four pillars: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone
therapy. Usually, according to the individual situation of the patient, a combination of these
therapies is used.
A promising treatment type is ion beam therapy. Tumours which do not respond well to conventional
therapy or are situated close to radiation-sensitive organs can be treated successfully with ion beam
therapy. According to international studies approximately 5 % of all cancer patients in the EU – about
120,000 people every year – could be treated using this emerging technology (Auberger, Griessmayer
(2004), Das Projekt MedAustron, Fotec – Forschungs- und Technologietransfer GmbH, Wiener
Neustadt). Another advantage of ion beam therapy is the high precision with which the required
radiation dose can be delivered to tumourous tissue. It is therefore possible to spare healthy tissue,
thus minimising side effects and improving the patients’ quality of live. Furthermore, this precision in
therapy is expected to reduce the frequency of occurrence of secondary malignancies compared to
conventional radiation therapy.
Despite the impressive progress, there are many fields of cancer therapy in which further important
improvements can be achieved by interdisciplinary, cooperative, and coordinated research:
 European multi-centre studies, especially in the emerging field of ion beam therapy, will help
developing more effective therapies with minimised side-effects. For the treatment of cancer
it is important to combine chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and hormone therapy for the
benefit of the patients.
 Development in the field of diagnostics (CT, PET-CT, MRI) will lead to improved precision in
treatment. At the same time European research in the respective disciplines will be
strengthened.
 Regarding ion beam therapy research in the field of accelerator physics will lead – on the
long term - to an enhanced availability of treatment facilities making this excellent treatment
widely accessible for European patients.
MedAustron will be involved in these enlisted and further fields of clinical and nonclinical research
and will strive for European cooperative research.