A giant machine that can treat cancer patients by zapping their tumours
with subatomic particles will be built in Singapore.
The proton therapy device - the
first of its kind in the region - will measure about half the size of a
football field. Costing S$100 million (US$80 million), it will be Southeast
Asia's most expensive medical machine.
The National Cancer Centre
Singapore announced yesterday that it plans to start building the device, which
will help children with cancer and patients with tumours in hard-to-reach areas
such as the brain, spinal cord and eye.
Proton therapy destroys cancer
cells with beams of positively charged subatomic particles, as opposed to the
X-rays used in conventional radiation treatment.
It delivers high doses of
radiation accurately to the tumour while avoiding the healthy tissue
surrounding it. This is especially significant for children, as the risk of
developing a second bout of cancer and other side effects such as growth and
mental retardation are reduced greatly.
There are also fewer short- and
long-term side effects than with X-ray therapy.
Treatment, which is non-invasive
and painless, is performed on an outpatient basis.
Those who qualify for government
subsidies will pay about S$13,000 for 15- to 30-minute sessions over six weeks.
The cost is the same as that for image-guided radiotherapy, a form of treatment
currently available to patients.
Centre director Professor Soo
Khee Chee said the facility will be able to treat about 1,000 people a year.
About 15 per cent of its current 5,000 radiotherapy patients could be suitable
for the treatment.
Proton therapy is also useful for
treating liver cancer, the fourth most common form of the disease among
Singaporean men.
The machine does not render other
forms of cancer therapy obsolete. For instance, X-ray therapy will continue to
be used where high doses of radiation are unnecessary. A committee of
specialists will determine whether patients are suitable for proton treatment.
Soo said: "This is a major
milestone for Singapore as proton beam therapy is the cutting edge in radiation
treatment."
There are 39 such facilities
worldwide, some of which are in Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Singapore's proton therapy facility will be located at the cancer centre's new
building at the Outram Campus. It is scheduled for completion in 2017.
The cancer centre, a non-profit
organisation, is currently raising funds for the project.
No comments:
Post a Comment