Sirtex opens another treatment centre in the US

Sydney biotech Sirtex Medical has opened its fifth US-based cancer treatment centre since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's SIR-Spheres cancer therapy in March.

Dr Brian Carr and his team treated the first liver cancer patient at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC) last week. The centre is nationally known for treatment of liver cancer.

The procedure was attended by Dr Bruce Gray, Sirtex's medical director, who said he was impressed by the capabilities of the new centre.

"We are excited to be working with Dr Carr and the liver tumour team here at UPMC. The team were pleased to have treated their first patient with SIR-Spheres for non-resectable metastatic liver tumours from primary colorectal cancer," said Charles Rowland, president of Sirtex Medical's US subsidiary, in a statement.

"We continue to work with leading oncology centres in the United States to expand the use of SIR-Spheres in the treatment of liver cancer."

Sirtex CEO Dr Colin Sutton said that the roll-out of the new therapy into US cancer treatment centres was moving along quite well.

"It's a result of our marketing program, which has been underway since November 2000," he said. The company has presented data from its trials at a number of cancer conferences over the last couple of years.

Sutton said that Sirtex invested heavily in training centres to use the radioactive SIR-Spheres therapy.

"We won't allow a centre to start until they have been visited and trained by Dr Bruce Gray," he said.

Sutton said that all of the centres trained to use SIR-Spheres to date had continued to treat patients with the new therapy on a regular basis.

Locally, Sirtex has been stalled in its efforts to gain acceptance of the technique, largely due to the delay in approval by the Health Department's Medical Services Advisory Committee for Medicare reimbursement. According to Sutton, the application before the committee for more than two years.