Transforming brain tumour treatment with HyperArc
With your generous support, we are able to fund innovative technologies like HyperArc, helping the dedicated team at Guy's Cancer provide advanced precision radiotherapy for brain tumour treatment.
What is HyperArc?
HyperArc is a world class technology that will transform patient experience and improve quality of life by minimising side effects and shortening treatment times.
This ground-breaking technology can advance treatment for brain tumours by offering targeted radiotherapy with unrivalled precision.
Advancing the future in radiotherapy treatment for brain tumours
Brain metastasis occurs when cancer cells from other parts of the body, like the lungs, spread to the brain. Traditionally, treating brain metastasis meant using whole-brain radiation therapy, a treatment that targets the entire brain in an attempt to remove all the cancer cells. However, this method also affects healthy tissue, leading to significant side effects like cognitive impairment, hair loss, and fatigue.
HyperArc represents a breakthrough in treatment for brain tumours. This specialised technology allows doctors to treat only the areas where the tumours are located, delivering high doses of radiation directly to the cancer cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. It’s a significant advancement, enabling faster, more effective treatment with fewer side effects.
Many patients who have disabilities, or claustrophobia, just cannot tolerate this sort of treatment. So, with shorter treatment times of around 15 minutes, we will be able to provide access to this very advanced radiotherapy treatment for patients who currently are unable to access it.
Offering patients a better treatment plan
The precision targeting of HyperArc ensures that radiation is delivered only to the tumour sites, making it possible to treat brain metastasis without affecting other areas of the body. Many people with brain cancer also have secondary tumours elsewhere. HyperArc makes it easier for doctors to carefully sequence treatments, ensuring that the brain metastasis is addressed first before moving on to other cancer sites. This streamlined approach offers patients a better treatment plan that’s both efficient and effective.
Understandably, receiving a cancer diagnosis can be a frightening time, and many patients become anxious and eager to start treatment as soon as possible. HyperArc will allow Guy’s Cancer’s dedicated staff to treat more patients by shortening waiting times for treatment. “Treatment planning will be more efficient, and the treatment delivery will be faster, which means there will be more capacity for staff to be treating other patients in the cancer centre,” Dr Kazumi Chia.
Help us push boundaries and provide hope for more patients through innovative treatments like HyperArc by donating today.