A KEY piece of machinery has been delivered to the multi-million pound cancer treatment centre that is nearing completion in Newport.

The Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales will be based at Newport’s Celtic Springs Business Park, and is set to be the first of three that Proton Partners International Limited is committed to developing in the UK.

The centre will become the first in the UK to offer proton beam therapy for anything other than eye cancer.

A spokeswoman for Proton Partners International Ltd said: “The Rutherford Cancer Centre is expected to be operational within weeks to offer radiotherapy, chemotherapy and imaging, and due to the installation process, proton beam therapy will be available next year.”

Proton beam therapy system Proteus® ONE, which was delivered to the centre yesterday, allows for advanced imaging techniques to be carried out.

Tumours are targeted with cone beam CT, a volumetric visualisation of the tumour and the body.

Mike Moran, chief executive officer of Proton Partners International, said: “The single room Proteus® ONE equipped with Philips Ambient Experience has been designed to optimise the patient experience by providing a comfortable and calming environment.

“The optimised workflow will reduce the amount of time it takes staff to position patients for treatment and the stress for the patient – which is something that is extremely important to us as we develop The Rutherford Cancer Centres.

“We are at the final stages of finishing the build of our first oncology centre which will offer patients access to the latest technology in radiotherapy, chemotherapy and imaging.

“Following today’s successful delivery of the first Proteus® ONE machine in the UK, the installation process will begin and high energy proton beam therapy will be available at our south Wales centre next year.”

The other two sites will be in Northumberland and Reading, in Berkshire, and the company is considering other sites.