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Stereotactic ablative radiation therapy, or SABR, is a non-invasive way to treat small tumors using high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and preserve healthy tissue.
It has pioneered for the first time in New Zealand at Waikato Hospital.
Radiation oncologist Roger Huang said the use of SABR is non-invasive, the patient is treated as an outpatient, and does not require a hospital stay or any postoperative recovery.
He said it is a technique that can save lives, especially for patients who cannot have surgery.
“The treatment basically consists of controlling their symptoms and they can potentially die of cancer, but with this technique it offers an alternative with possibilities of cure.
The patient who underwent the first treatment with the technique is over 80 years old and had been ruled out as a candidate for surgery due to other medical conditions and her age that put her at risk.
“ We were very excited to offer him the treatment. ”
Huang said that when using the technique they should be careful not to damage the surrounding organs, however the technique is very accurate.
“It is capable of precision down to millimeters thanks to integrated images to locate and target the tumor.”
He said the SABR technique has already been used in other parts of the body, including the lungs, brain and bones.
Dr. Huang said that Waikato Hospital will develop SABR for other organs such as the prostate, pancreas and liver.
“We will offer it to the right patients for treatment,” he said.
“Surgery is still the gold standard, but SABR certainly offers an alternative option.”
He believes the process could reduce the duration of prostate cancer treatment from the current four weeks to one and could improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer, which can be difficult to treat with conventional radiation therapy.
