A CANCER centre planned for Newport will boast a world 'first' in digital scanning equipment to aid diagnoses and track the progress of treatments.

The centre, earmarked for an existing building at the city's Celtic Springs Business Park, is expected to be up and running by 2017, becoming the UK's first provider of proton beam therapy.

And it will house what the company behind the project - Proton Partners International - say is the world's first and currently only digital PET CT scanning system, Vereos, developed by Philips Healthcare.

CT (computed tomography) scanning provides detailed images of tissues and organs, while PET (positron emission tomography) scanning also helps reveal how these are working, and where disease may lie.

Chief executive Mike Moran said Proton Partners International is committed to working with renowned international companies, and the Newport centre will provide cancer patients with the most advanced cancer technology available.

"This digital PET CT scanner will be the first of its kind in the UK, and reflects the strength of our commitment to improve the treatment of cancer," said Mr Moran.

“Currently, there is only one PET CT scanner in Wales, but it’s not digital.

"The accuracy of this new system means that we will be able to produce much clearer imagery to support early diagnosis and determine which patients are responding better to treatment with follow-up scans.

"This means that our patients will receive a better, and more sophisticated, level of care."

A planning application for the Newport centre was registered with the city council last month.

Proton Partners International wants to open three such centres in the UK, offering proton beam therapy, a treatment for which patients must currently travel to Europe or the USA.

Proton beam therapy is a highly targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers, such as spinal tumours, with a lower risk of damaging surrounding tissue and causing side effects.

The Celtic Springs site is a building formerly occupied by Nucleus Healthcare as a gastroenterology unit. It has been vacant for three years.

The aim is to provide proton beam therapy, chemotherapy and traditional radiotherapy treatments as well as diagnostics, for private and NHS-referred patients.