World First Results in Curing Cancer
Princess Alexandra Hospital has placed Queensland at the forefront of international medicine with a world first in melanoma treatment.
International research conducted over 17 years has become the first of its kind to prove the effectiveness of radiation therapy in curing melanoma.
Radiation Oncology trial director, Professor Bryan Burmeister, said the study had shown a course of radiation therapy after a patient has undergone surgery significantly reduces the recurrence of the disease.
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He said the results will benefit patients with melanoma across the globe.
“Our research into the importance of radiation therapy in treating melanoma is particularly important in Queensland, where we experience the highest rate of melanoma in the world,”he said.
“Melanoma patients who require lymph node surgery normally have a high risk of recurrence – we’ve shown that radiation therapy reduces their chance of the disease coming back from 32% to less than 18%.”
Dr Burmeister’s desire to stop the recurrence in the lymph nodes goes beyond cementing PA Hospital, Brisbane and Queensland as the international leader in melanoma treatment.
“Recurrence of melanoma in the lymph nodes can be extremely disabling with swelling of the arm (lymphedema), fungation, bleeding discharge, and pain,” he said.
“Improved treatment is about effective prevention of this recurrence through radiation five days a week for four weeks, which is not difficult or painful for the patient.”
The research, which commenced in 1992, aimed to address the high rate of melanoma recurrence in patients who required surgery to the lymph node. It was led by surgeon Assoc Prof Mark Smithers with Professor Burmeister.
Initial results in treating melanoma suggested that radiation was effective in reducing recurrence of disease but for the treatment to be proved, years of investigation and data collection were necessary to establish the best and safest method of treating melanoma.
Dr Burmeister has continued to advance the trial, with significant investment from his base at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
“PA Hospital has certainly done its bit in proving these results with 45% of participants in the second phase of the study and 40% from the third phase coming through the Radiation Oncology Unit here,” he said.
“I’m proud of our 17-year effort in proving that radiation is necessary to successfully treat melanoma,” Dr Burmeister said.
Dr Burmeister presented the findings of the trial to the American society of clinical oncology this year and has been invited to present this world-first at the American society of therapeutic radiation oncology in Chicago in November 2009.
Research Timeline
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Phase 1: Initial results highlighting reduced recurrence and limited side effects were first published in
1995.
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Phase 2: A much larger study involving 234 patients showed the recurrence of the disease was less than 15% in patients who received radiation therapy. The research involved 234 patients from eight
centres across the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group, with 45 per cent of participants coming from the PAH. The results were published in 2006.
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Phase 3: A third study focused on patients with lymph node disease having surgery alone, compared with patients who had both surgery and radiation therapy. With 250 patients recruited from 16 centres around the world, the results showed a reduction from 32% to 18% recurrence with the addition of radiation therapy. The results were published in May 2009.
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