The first NHS Wales cancer patient has started receiving ground-breaking proton beam therapy treatment at the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales in Newport.
The Newport centre is approved by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) to provide high-energy proton beam therapy to adult patients referred from the NHS in Wales.
Professor Roger Taylor, senior clinical advisor and consultant clinical oncologist at the centre, said: “The availability of proton beam therapy at a local clinic is an important step forward in cancer care in the UK and we are pleased to be able to provide treatment for this young man.
“While proton therapy is not a panacea for all types of cancer, we have seen where it can be beneficial in treating a range of tumours.”
Dr Sian Lewis, managing director of the WHSSC, added: “Patients who require this highly-specialised treatment have complex and often-rare conditions and would, in the past, be required to travel abroad for treatment. Being treated closer to home will offer less-disruptive care.”
The Rutherford Cancer Centre Thames Valley in Reading and the Rutherford Cancer Centre North East in Northumberland will open proton beam therapy suites next year, allowing for even -greater access to treatment.
And a centre in Liverpool, the Rutherford Cancer Centre North West, is also under construction and will be completed later this year.
Each centre is equipped to treat up to 500 patients per year.
