UHG rolls out high dose rate treatment for prostate cancer patients

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Prostate cancer patients can now avail of high-dose-rate brachytherapy treatment at UHG. To date, the high-dose treatment had only been available to patients in the Mater Hospital. Designated staff have completed a training and education programme which also involved site visits to the Mater hospital and the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre in Belfast. Hospital management hope UHG will lead a programme to roll out the prostate HDR service to other radiotherapy centres in Cork and Dublin. High dose-rate brachytherapy involves inserting thin tubes into the affected area which carry a source of radiation to destroy cancer cells. Ireland has the highest rate of prostate cancer in Europe with over 3,400 men diagnosed annually. Dr. Cormac Small is a Radiation Oncologist – he says the advances in treatment means a wider range of patients can now avail of it, you will hear him on FYI Galway at 5…