Prostate cancer is the second most deadly cause of cancer in Australian men (after lung cancer), claiming the lives of more than 3,200 men each year. People with prostate cancer are usually treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, or a combination of these treatments. However, a new non-invasive treatment option named MR Linac is making waves across Australia. So, we’ve looked into it and found out everything you need to know.
The MR Linac machine called Elekta Unity combines radiation therapy with an MRI scanner so doctors can find and treat cancer at the same time. The MR-Linac system is the latest advancement in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), a non-invasive type of radiation therapy that involves delivering radiation from a source outside the body. While it’s generally administered daily for several weeks (between 20-40 sessions in total), SRBT allows clinicians to deliver a higher dose of radiation across five or fewer daily sessions. The treatment is only offered at the GenesisCare oncology centre within St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, and in the Townsville Hospital at the moment for patients with prostate or oligometastatic cancer.
Dr Jeremy de Leon, a GenesisCare radiation oncologist, said the special technology allows doctors to target cancer more precisely.
“The MR Linac enables clinicians to visualise the tumour during treatment and adapt to changes in tumour size and location,” he says. “This allows us to target cancer more precisely and deliver highly personalised therapy each time a patient is treated.
“This adaptive patient care in radiation therapy helps to minimise exposure to surrounding healthy tissue and may result in reduced treatment-related side effects, fewer treatment sessions and fewer visits to the hospital, thereby reducing the overall burden on patients.”
The good news is Medicare covers up to 80 per cent of cancer treatment with MR Linac. However, the out-of-pocket costs for treatment will vary depending on the number of treatment doses, tumour location and where individual patients sit on the Medicare Safety Net.
Rod Brooks, 68, has become the first person in NSW to receive the treatment. The former principal was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in May, but his introduction to the condition was particularly brutal. The 68-year-old, who was in remission for bowel cancer at the time, went in for a routine check-up when he received the heartbreaking news that he had cancer again.
“I get regular checkups and blood tests to check my bowel cancer is still in remission, so you can imagine my surprise when the doctor told me that I had cancer again,” Rod says. “Prostate cancer surgery wasn’t really an option for me after my bowel cancer operation, so I was grateful there were non-invasive treatments that would allow me to keep active and out of the hospital.”
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.