Australian-first 'another level' for cancer care

Perth patients can look forward to safer, more efficient treatment thanks to new technology at Icon Cancer Centre Midland.

Icon is the first healthcare provider in the Southern Hemisphere, and only the third worldwide, to clinically treat with the RapidArc Dynamic system.

The technology has yieldedsignificant data-driven improvements in treatment planning and execution at the Midland clinic, particularly for patients with breast or prostate cancer.

Icon is now planning to introduce it at other cancer centres – it operates more than 40 sites nationwide.

"I'm really excited about this technology," said Icon Radiation Oncologist Professor John Boyages, who has been evaluating its early clinical impact at Icon Midland.

"We already have some of the best treatment plans I've seen in my 40-year career at Icon, and this has just taken it to another level," he added.

"I'm blown away by the ability to curve radiation around healthy organs and reduce doses to tissues like the heart to very safe levels whilst giving the right doses to the cancer areas."

RapidArc Dynamic has achieved up to an 80 percent reduction in treatment planning time for breast radiotherapy at Icon.

It has also reduced radiation exposure to critical organs – the mean dose to the heart has dropped by an average of 22 percent, lowering the risk of side-effects and improving patients' quality of life.

In a recent blinded physician review, RapidArc Dynamic-based plans were selected as optimal in 100 percent of cases, showing broad clinical confidence in the technology's ability to enhance plan quality and potentially yield better patient outcomes.

Icon GroupCEO Mark Middleton said the technology's success signalled a shift toward establishing RapidArc Dynamic as a new standard of care in radiotherapy.

"We're extremely proud of our long-term global partnership with Varian which has enabled us to be early adopters of new techniques and technologies," he said.

"RapidArc Dynamic adds to our suite of advanced radiotherapy treatments and techniques across our global network and is another example of our commitment to bringing world-class treatments to more communities across the world."

Read more: Icon-Bays deal boosts care for cancer patients

Read more: 'Game changing' cancer treatment close to home

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