A NEW innovative cancer treatment centre in Dorchester will be at the forefront of cancer research in the United Kingdom, experts have said.

The recently opened Poundbury Cancer Institute (PCI) will see ground-breaking research into cancer treatments and how they can be specifically targeted depending on the type of cancer, with plans to introduce the treatments into the NHS in the near future.

Doctors and research scientists will investigate a cancer tumour’s genetic profile and how different treatments interact with cancer cells, with the aim of developing treatments for specific cancers, as opposed to the current system of non-specific cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Certain targeted treatments, such as for breast cancer, have been available on the NHS for a number of years. However, clinicians were often unsure if patients were receiving the optimal treatment for their cancer type and due to concerns about the sensitivity of the diagnostics used to select patients for a particular treatment, there has been a limited uptake.

It is thought that eventually, NHS patients will be able to benefit from the treatments developed at PCI.

Dr Corrado D’Arrigo, consultant histopathologist at Dorset County Hospital said: "The her-2 test in breast cancer was one of the first companion diagnostics introduced in the late 90's, yet it took us over 10 years to improve the quality of her-2 testing across the UK laboratories to the point that clinicians could be sure they were giving patients the most effective treatment.

“We are facing an avalanche of new companion diagnostics and we cannot afford similar delays. We need to create a network of centres like Poundbury Cancer Institute to help the NHS deliver all these new tests.”

The PCI, which was officially opened last week when HRH Prince Charles visited the centre, will act as a testing centre for new diagnostic tests, developed in partnership with diagnosticians and the pharmaceutical industry.

The institute then plans to improve cancer outcomes by widening patient access to a large array of high quality cancer tests through links with key NHS cancer centres.

Not only will the new centre be at the forefront of developing novel diagnostic technologies, such as new biomarker tests in common cancers like bowel and lung cancer, it will also help develop robust systems via the UK National External Quality Assessment Service, to ensure that the diagnostic tests used in the NHS are performed to a high quality. The institute will offer training to other NHS laboratories and pathology services to ensure a spread of best practice across the UK.

Dr Sarah Wedden, senior research scientist at Dorset County Hospital said: “There has been a radical transformation in the availability of new targeted cancer therapies in the last 10 years, however the NHS has not always been effective at adopting these new technologies.

“We hope to change this through Poundbury Cancer Institute which will act as a test bed for the introduction of new diagnostics.”

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