World first painless and non-invasive skin cancer treatment trialled in Australia
Skin cancer patients in Australia are the first to be enrolled in a global trial of a new painless non-invasive treatment.
The therapy called Rhenium-SCT uses a resin paste containing radioactive particles to kill non-melanoma skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma.
South Coast Radiology on the Gold Coast is the first to offer the new treatment as part of a study recruiting 200 patients, also involving patients in Sydney and Perth.
Small published studies overseas have shown the therapy to be effective and well-tolerated but more evidence is needed.
"The Rhenium-SCT has advantages in that it's a single treatment that is painless with a really good cosmetic outcome," said Dr Sam Vohra, OncoBeta Australia Medical Director.
GenesisCare's Radiation Oncologist Associate Professor Sid Baxi treated the first patients in the study.
"This is particularly useful for thin skin cancers, around three millimetres in-depth," he said.
"We're looking at an approximate 90 percent clearance rate."
He said about 500 patients around the world have already received the therapy with a follow-up of about two years.
The latest trial will shed more light on its effectiveness, the side-effect profile and the patient's quality of life. Jan McGrath travelled from Sydney to the Gold Coast after she jumped at the chance to take part in the trials.
"It just sounded amazing to be able to cure it without having to be cut, chopped and sewn," she said.
"It was really easy, it didn't hurt at all."
Jan wanted to avoid having a surgical graft after a basal cell carcinoma developed inside her ear.
She has had about ten skin cancers removed in the past, including major surgery on her nose which took weeks to heal.
"It's invasive, painful and takes a long time to recover," she said.
The German-based innovators have partnered with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to manufacture and deliver the radioactive particles at Lucas Heights.
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