Partnership brings Advanced Cancer Research to Oxford

The University of Oxford’s Department of Oncology and GenesisCare have launched an exclusive 10-year partnership to enhance access to the latest technology in medicine to improve diagnosis, management and treatment of cancer. A first priority of the partnership will be the installation and use of a Magnetic Resonance Linear Accelerator (MR LinAc) at GenesisCare’s centre in Oxford, along with research into new clinical planning techniques.

The MR LinAc will be used both for research and the treatment of patients in the Oxford area, locating and measuring cancer in real-time and adjusting radiation delivery to changing tumours with unrivalled accuracy. This technology has the potential to drastically change the patient treatment experience and the way in which treatment planning and delivery is conducted.

The partnership brings together a world-renowned research university, a leading network of cancer researchers and the largest private provider of comprehensive cancer care services in the UK, Spain and Australia. Over the next 10 years the partnership will combine research into a new field of nuclear medicine called theranostics; trials combining radiotherapy and new drugs and state of the art diagnostics.

Professor Mark Middleton, Head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford said: 'This partnership offers something unique. The organisations involved are heavily committed to driving innovation together to advance cancer care and tangibly improve a patient’s treatment experience. The technology available through the MR LinAc allows for a shift in current radiotherapy treatments, promising to go beyond conventional anatomically-based planning. This partnership would not have been possible without a philanthropic donation, from the John Black Charitable Foundation. We are extremely grateful for this gift. This is an exciting time, as we use world leading research within GenesisCare’s network to drive a step change in treatment.'

Clinical trials will play a key role in delivering the partnership’s outcomes. The trials will be created specifically to explore the potential of cutting-edge technology, with the aim of making these available at other centres across the UK.

The installation of the MR LinAc at the GenesisCare Oxford centre is scheduled to take place mid-2019 and the first patient is expected to receive treatment within the year.