25 April 2016 – Professor Karol Sikora, Chief Medical Officer of Proton Partners International, has said that there is a rapid global expansion of global demand for proton beam therapy.
Speaking at the opening of a new proton beam therapy centre at the Centre Antoine-Lacassagne (CAL) in Nice, France, Professor Karol Sikora highlighted ongoing research to determine which patients will benefit most from proton beam therapy.
The CAL has installed an IBA Proteus One machine – the same machine that will be installed in the three proton beam therapy centres to be opened by Proton Partners International, in Newport, Northumbria and West London.
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Professor Karol Sikora, said: “The biggest challenge that all healthcare systems have is deciding what proportion of radical radiotherapy is best delivered by proton. Clearly only certain patients will really gain and we need to identify them.
“An analysis of recent studies demonstrates that between 10-20% of patients would benefit from proton beam therapy by having significantly less long-term side effects.
“In Britain this would mean a requirement for 18 centres - far more than the 2 currently planned by the NHS. Most European countries are now planning for at least 10% of radiotherapy to be delivered by protons.
“Proton Partners International are in the process of building three centres in the UK to address this global gap and will treat a variety of patients-self pay, insurance and of course NHS patients.
“Over a thousand clinical studies are in progress and it’s likely that further data on long-term toxicity will support a major expansion in this area. If the UK doesn’t make the right decisions today, we will again fall behind in the quality of cancer treatment we will be able to offer cancer patients in the future.”
About Proton Partners International Limited
Proton Partners International is a private limited company, registered in Wales. The company was formed following discussions between Professor Karol Sikora, former head of the World Health Organisation’s cancer programme, Professor Sir Chris Evans, the leading life sciences entrepreneur, and Neil Woodford, founding partner of Woodford Investment Management. Institutional and private investors have committed to almost £100m equity finance in the company.
Professor Gordon McVie, Clinical Research Adviser to the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM), has been appointed non-executive chairman and Professor Karol Sikora is chief medical officer to the company.
About Proton Beam Therapy
Proton beam therapy is a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers, such as spinal tumours (chordomas), with a lower risk of damaging the surrounding tissue and causing side effects.
