Patients benefiting from advanced brain tumour treatment set to double

19 Jun 2016 07:18 PM

The number of patients receiving an innovative treatment for brain tumours will more than double over the next three years as a concrete step towards the implementation of NHS England’s Cancer Strategy.

NHS England has now announced the award of new contracts for stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy (SRS/SRT) – specialist forms of radiotherapy that can be used to treat patients with intracranial conditions, such as benign and malignant brain tumours.

More than 6,200 patients a year are expected to benefit from these services by 2018/9, compared to just over 2,400 in 2014/15. The new SRS/SRT services are spread across all regions of England, improving access to services and making it possible to treat more people closer to home.

Over the course of the seven year contracts, the increased number of SRS/SRT treatments will be delivered for significantly less than they would cost at current per-patient prices thanks to efficiencies of around 25%. Further, by increasing access to these advanced forms of radiotherapy, fewer people will have to undergo more invasive and costly treatments such as surgery.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, NHS England’s Director of Specialised Services, said: “As a result of this procurement thousands more patients will benefit from this very precise and effective form of treatment. This is another example of how NHS England is working hard to achieve better services and outcomes for patients at the same time as better value for the health service.”

Angela Collett of the patient charity the Brain and Spine Foundation, said: “The Brain and Spine Foundation welcome this important step from NHS England to increase access to specialist stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy, which will make a major difference for thousands of patients diagnosed with life changing brain illnesses.”

SRS/SRT are specialised services delivered by a highly skilled team of neurosurgeons and oncologists, working together with specialist radiographers, physicists and other professionals as part of multi-disciplinary teams. This means they need to be provided in a limited number of hospitals across the country with the expert teams and aligned to existing networks.

Services are delivered using a number of different technologies/platforms, including Gamma Knife, CyberKnife and specially configured linear accelerators. The technology delivers precisely directed beams of radiation to the target site, meaning that there is less of risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissue and thus fewer side effects for patients.

The services are arranged to ensure that patients in all areas of the country have access to SRS/SRT for more common illnesses (largely for brain tumours and metastases), while three national centres of excellence will provide specialist care and support for children and patients with rare and complex conditions (such as vascular and other non-tumour conditions).
Providers will start delivering SRS/SRT services during 2016 and work swiftly towards a significantly expanded service.

As part of the Cancer Strategy, further improvements to radiotherapy access and quality will be the subject of a separate Radiotherapy Services Review. The Review will produce a plan for a modern national radiotherapy network by September, with a revised radiotherapy service specification by the end of the year.

The new services will be provided by the following providers:

Tier 1 & 2

Tier 3 & 4 National Centres

Paediatric National Centres