Tayside Cancer Centre, based at Ninewells Hospital, will be providing a new brachytherapy service for NHS Tayside cancer patients with the introduction of a state-of-the-art treatment unit.
Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy in which seeds, ribbons, or capsules that contain a radiation source are placed in your body, in or near a tumour. Brachytherapy is a local treatment and treats only a specific part of your body. It is a key component in the treatment of cervical and uterine cancer.
Sankar Pillai, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at NHS Tayside said, “This new high dose rate brachytherapy equipment will mean patients can have their treatment delivered over 30 minutes as opposed to 17 hours, which is how long it currently takes. This is a massive improvement for patients as it means less time isolated in a brachytherapy suite.
“Having this new treatment unit and a shorter treatment time will also allow us to see more patients and give us the opportunity to expand the service in the future and develop new treatments for other types of cancer.
“Commissioning this new technology has been a multi-disciplinary team effort involving radiotherapy physicists, radiographers, nurses and oncologists. The team at Tayside Cancer Centre are proud to be able to offer this new service to our patients.”
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• The Tayside Cancer Centre, based at Ninewells Hospital, delivers treatments for cancer to the population of Tayside and North Fife. The centre sees over 2400 new patients per year, treating all adult cancer types and delivering high quality, compassionate and person-centred cancer care.
• Treatments available include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted tablet therapies. The Tayside Cancer Centre team works closely with other team in Tayside including radiology, pathology, surgery and palliative care.
Photo attached: l-r Kirsty Muir, radiotherapy treatment advanced practitioner, Colin Mackay, Deputy Head of Physics, Stanley Rutajunara, senior radiographer, Ian Sanders, consultant clinical oncologist and Emma McIntosh, brachytherapy lead with the new treatment unit