TWENTY-five patients have been or are currently being treated with high energy proton beam therapy at a multi-million pound cancer centre in Newport.

The Rutherford Cancer Centre at the city's Celtic Springs Business Park, treated its first patient with the therapy last April.

And Proton Partners International - which runs the centre - has reported that demand for proton beam therapy for cancer patients has increased significantly this year, due to the availability of the treatment in the UK.

Newport's Rutherford Cancer Centre is part of a network being created in the UK by Proton Partners International, and was the first of that network to offer proton beam therapy.

The treatment - for otherwise difficult to treat cancers - was available to patients in the UK only on a very limited scale before this initiative.

It has been used at the Newport centre to treat a variety of cancers including breast, head and neck, prostate, and hip.

Simon Hardacre, from the Forest of Dean, was the first patient to be treated with proton beam therapy at the Newport centre, in April.

“We were extremely proud to introduce high energy proton beam therapy to the UK and as awareness of the treatment grows, demand has increased. We expect this trend will continue as other facilities offering the treatment begin operating," said Mike Moran, chief executive officer of Proton Partners International.

“This year has proved to be a landmark moment because, generally, it removes the need for patients having to be sent abroad for treatment.

“We should be clear that proton beam therapy is not a panacea in terms of cancer care, but is proven to deliver benefits across a range of cancers.

"For example, it is well established that it is particularly effective in the treatment of children and hard-to-reach tumours, as it reduces toxicity in the body.”

Since the opening of the Newport centre, known as the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales, two further centres have opened in England, in Northumberland and Reading.

Both are treating patients with chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, and will offer proton beam therapy from next year, when the specialist machines have been commissioned.

In the meantime, the network system means that patients can currently be assessed for proton beam therapy at any of the centres before travelling to Newport for the treatment.

Each Rutherford Cancer Centre patient undergoes a double planning process, which sees a team of oncologists predict the outcome of proton beam therapy treatment versus radiotherapy, to ensure the best possible treatment is applied.

All treatment plans are then peer reviewed with world-leading proton beam therapy consultants in the USA.

More than 90,000 UK cancer patients a year are treated with radical radiotherapy, and Proton Partners International believes some 10 per cent of these - a figure accepted at European level - could be better treated with proton beam therapy.