People living with brain cancer in the ACT will now be able to access a new form of therapy set to drastically cut down treatment time.
HyperArc radiation therapy at the Canberra Icon Cancer Centre will allow for multiple brain tumours to be treated simultaneously.
While the technology has been used in other jurisdictions across the country in recent years, it's the first time the HyperArc therapy has been available to those with brain cancer in Canberra.
Icon Cancer Centre radiation oncologist Dr Lisa Sullivan said the technology would allow for more targeted treatment for cancer patients.
"Traditionally, patients with multiple brain tumours would have to have their whole brain treated," Dr Sullivan said.
"With this technology we can attack multiple brain tumours with a high-dose treatment while reducing the dose to the normal parts of the brain around it."
Rather than patients having to sit for hours undergoing the radiation treatment, HyperArc radiation could be completed in 15 minutes.
Dr Sullivan said the treatment also led to better outcomes for patients.
"It can deliver the radiation therapy in a quicker period of time and can extend the patient's lifetime and their quality of life, without having to go to another state or another centre for cancer treatment," she said.
While it was unfortunate I had to go through the treatment, it was lucky that it was efficient, and physically, it was very easy for me
Yuhua Shi
The first patient to be treated with the technology in the ACT was Canberran Yuhua Shi. She underwent three rounds of the 15-minute radiation therapy in October after being diagnosed with multiple brain tumours the month before.
"I was only diagnosed in September and the program of treatment was set up quickly for me," Ms Shi said.
"While it was unfortunate I had to go through the treatment, it was lucky that it was efficient and physically, it was very easy for me."
The diagnosis of multiple brain cancer tumours came as a shock to the 54-year-old, after she had spent several years in remission from breast cancer.
After she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2015, Ms Shi spent more than four months undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment before going into remission.
However, Ms Shi discovered in 2019 the cancer had returned, this time to her lymph nodes, which required another 15 months of chemotherapy.
She said the news about the cancer then spreading to her brain this year came as a further blow. However, she said the HyperArc treatment had made a difference in dealing with the spread of the cancer through her body.
"That was all done in three sessions, and people kept asking me how many treatments did I have to do, and I said to them 'it's all done'," she said. "I'm still working three days a week, and it was so helpful that I could receive treatment that worked around this."
Dr Sullivan said the new treatment allowed for people with brain cancer to extend their quality of life.
"More and more people are now living longer with advanced diseases thanks to these cutting-edge developments in treatments," he said.
