09.10.12
£15m radiotherapy fund launched
Additional funding has been announced to provide advanced cancer treatment for up to 8,000 more patients a year. Prime Minister David Cameron and health secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed a £15m fund for a radiotherapy technique with fewer side effects.
The Cancer Radiotherapy Innovation Fund will use the money to speed up the use of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), which targets more precise doses of radiotherapy at tumours, minimising the impact on surrounding healthy tissue.
Currently, the majority of 50 radiotherapy treatment centres are not using IMRT where clinically appropriate.
Cameron said: “We’re making sure that more people get the drugs and treatments they need. This is going to help thousands of people at one of the hardest times of their lives.”
And Hunt added: “We want to make sure that cancer services in England are world class and that NHS patients receive the best quality treatments that are available.
“For too long our cancer survival rates have lagged behind other comparable countries. We have already committed to improving survival rates, saving an additional 5,000 lives per year. In addition, we want to make sure that cancer survivors have as good a quality of life as possible, minimising possible side effects.
“Radiotherapy is one of the most clinically and cost-effective treatments for cancer and this funding will bring our additional investment in radiotherapy over the spending review period to £165m.”
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