Launch of elite centre aiding cancer treatment

4 September 2001

A centre established to improve the quality of radiation treatment and diagnostic procedures in the treatment of cancer will be launched at the University of Wollongong today (4 September).

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton, will officially launch the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics and present certificates of recognition to industry partners.

Industry partners are ANSTO, the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Gammasonics Institute for Medical Research, GE Medical Systems, Hitachi Australia Ltd, Insight Oceania Pty Ltd Australia, Illawarra Cancer Care Centre (Wollongong Hospital), Department of Nuclear Medicine (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital), Radiation Oncology (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital), Radio-Therapy Division (St George Cancer Care Centre of St George Hospital) and the Department of Nuclear Medicine, St George Hospital.

The elite centre offers one of the few academic programs training medical physicists at the undergraduate and postgraduate level (including PhD) in Australia. The centre has strong international links with key institutions in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, the centre is involved in research and development for use in nuclear medicine, radiation dosimetry and other health-related areas, according to Centre Director, Professor Anatoly Rosenfeld.

The centre has already been involved in the development of a new generation surgical probe. Before surgery, patients are administered a radioactive compound which finds and labels lymphatic cancer cells. The probe finds the labelled cells ensuring only cancerous lymph nodes are removed. Surgeons no longer need to remove surrounding tissue and this technique helps limit the spread of cancer cells through the body.

Venue and time for launch: Level 1 foyer of Building 41 (near the Howard Worner minerals collection) at 4.45pm. Tours of the centre, located in Building 15, will be conducted.