Dr Frank Sullivan, one of two newly appointed consultant radiation oncologists at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG), says patients in the west can look forward to "state-of-the-art cancer care" and "exciting plans for the future".
One initiative will involve setting up a specialised form of radiation therapy, called brachytherapy, for patients with breast, prostate and gynaecological cancers. Brachytherapy is a targeted form of treatment in which a small radiation source is placed inside the tumour or, post-operatively, in the cavity formerly occupied by the cancer.
While working as medical director of the Holycross Cancer Institute, Maryland, Dr Sullivan was involved in successful trials of brachytherapy in breast cancer patients. A balloon-shaped radiotherapy source was implanted into the cavity created by the removal of the breast lump. By treating just the immediate tumour area, the course of radiotherapy was completed in just one week rather than the standard six weeks needed when external beam radiation is used.
Initial research results show the procedure is tolerated by women and that they had better outcomes, including a more favourable cosmetic result.
"Brachytherapy for prostate cancer is well established," Dr Sullivan says, citing his experience treating more than 1,200 patients in Maryland using the technique. Patients are admitted as day cases for the 45-minute procedure during which radioactive seeds are placed in the cancerous areas of the prostate gland. The radiation then leaks out over time in a controlled manner into the body of the prostate gland thereby destroying the malignancy. "This will be the definitive radiotherapy option for men with prostate cancer," Dr Sullivan says. It will replace the standard eight-week course of treatment.
Dr Sullivan has been joined by Dr Maeve Pomeroy, who looked after patients from the west of Ireland for many years while a consultant at St Luke's hospital, Dublin. Interviews have taken place for a third consultant post.