More than 100 prostate cancer suffers in Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour have been helped thanks to new world first treatment guidelines.
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Established with the help of Mid North Coast Cancer Institute’s (MNCCI) associate professor Tom Shakespeare, the guidelines, developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR), outline how radiation therapy can be used to cure patients whose prostate cancer has returned after initial treatment.
“This is a world first. In the past, patients who have been diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer have often been told it is incurable,” associate professor Shakespeare said.
“We now believe that these patients can be cured with radiation therapy
“In the past, patients who have been diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer have often been told it is incurable. We now believe that these patients can be cured with radiation therapy.”
The guidelines were developed after the RANZCR Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genitourinary Group (FROGG) conducted a national conference to review the new evidence and develop consensus guidelines.
Associate professor Shakespeare was a convenor of the conference, and a co-author of the guidelines which are about to be published in the prestigious international journal, Radiotherapy and Oncology.
“It is early days, but so far by following the guidelines we have more than a 90 per cent cure rate, with very few side-effects,” he said.
“These are amazing results considering in the past we would not have even treated these patients with radiation therapy.”
He said the excellent results are due to the early adoption of the new guidelines, which had been in development for nearly two years, and the world class cancer treatment facilities and expert staff available on the Mid North Coast.
“You could not get better results anywhere else,” he said.
It is expected that a formal review of treatment results will be made early next year as part of the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute’s quality assurance program.
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