Download cancer patients to be treated by stereotactic radiotherapy on Mount

E&NH0552
More cancer patients to be treated by
stereotactic
radiotherapy
on
Mount
Vernon’s CyberKnife
Mount Vernon Cancer Centre is one of 17 units included in national funding
programme and one of just seven allowed to treat all cancers covered by NHS
England’s funding agreement
Northwood, 15 June 2015 – Today NHS England has announced that the Mount
Vernon Cancer Centre is one of several centres across England to be included in a
national evaluation programme to assess the benefit of a specialist form of
radiotherapy – called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy or SABR for short – in
treating some forms of cancer. SABR is a modern, more precise delivery technique
of radiotherapy, which delivers high doses of radiation while causing less damage to
surrounding healthy tissue than conventional radiotherapy.
Mount Vernon is one of a handful of cancer centres to have a CyberKnife in the UK,
a radiotherapy machine designed to deliver stereotactic radiotherapy that is used
already to treat NHS patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. Following
NHS England's announcement, the CyberKnife at Mount Vernon will be also be used
to treat NHS patients with: oligometastatic disease (cancer that has spread in a
limited fashion to another part of the body); primary liver tumours; and the reirradiation of cancers in the pelvis and spine. NHS England's clinical panel is also
considering including benign spinal tumours and renal conditions as part of its
evaluation scheme in the future.
Dr Pete Ostler, a clinical oncologist at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, said:
"Today's announcement from NHS England is very welcome and ends uncertainty for
many of our patients as the process to get individual funding requests on the NHS
has been a difficult and lengthy process that too often ended in disappointment.
2/More cancer patients to be treated by stereotactic
radiotherapy on Mount Vernon’s CyberKnife
Dr Ostler continued:
“The decision means that patients deemed suitable for treatment on our CyberKnife
can go ahead and be treated quickly without worrying if the NHS will approve its
funding. Our staff too will find it much easier to care for their patients, providing them
with the best form of treatment for their condition - including SABR, if that's
indicated."
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For more information, please call Peter Gibson, associate director for public affairs on:
01438 285362 (direct line) or Sue Thaw, communications manager on: 01438 285940
(direct line); for out-of-hours calls, please page the duty press officer on 07659 103839.
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