Cancer Voices SA

05/08/2026

Last month, our own Julie Elizabeth McCrossin hosted a deep dive into optimising patient experiences in Head and Neck Radiotherapy via Open Face Masks!

Julie interviewed the Irish team from OPEN Trial on the research behind this as well as how it has been put into practice. Prof Sinead Brennan uses Open Face Masks on all her head and neck cancer patients. They had previously done research on 50 patients to show safety and effectiveness. In this latest research they had 200 patients in the trial and made it a Phase 3 Randomised Control Trial so they had the highest level of evidence.

Hosted by Julie McCrossin, https://www.juliemccrossin.orgHead & Ne...

30/07/2026

and Throat Cancer:
4 minute video.

https://youtu.be/ET4vxKLPVGA?si=nRvF18bQ_JE5V0Mm

28/07/2026

☢️ 🇮🇪 OPEN Trial - Optimising Patient Experience in Head and Neck Radiotherapy.
A Phase 3 Randomised Control Trial Comparing Open versus Close Faced Masks.

“We improved patient experience without sacrificing accuracy and there was a significant improvement in patient experience with no increase in resources in our department. This is a new standard of care for all patients.” Prof Sinead Brennan, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Principal Investigator OPEN Trial, St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network Ireland.

Hosted by Julie McCrossin, https://www.juliemccrossin.orgHead & Ne...

25/07/2026

25/07/2026

Eating well is always important, but even more so when you have lymphoma or are recovering from treatment. Even though you may feel like you are less active than before, your body is working really hard to eliminate lymphoma cells, and repair or replace your good cells that have been damaged through treatments.
To do this your body needs energy from the foods that we eat.

Even as an adult, our body makes trillions of cells everyday. This includes about 1
billion neutrophils, 1 billion platelets and 2 billion red cells. Then there are skin cells,
cells that line our mouth, stomach, bowels, and all our other cells that need to be
constantly replaced to keep our body working well.

When you’re having treatment for lymphoma, your body needs to make even more
cells because many good cells can be damaged. It can be really hard to know what
the right foods are and how many calories you need. It can also be difficult to eat the
right foods if you are having side effects such as nausea, or sores in your mouth.
Dieticians are available in most hospitals, or your GP can also refer you to see one.
A dietician will give you tailored advice on your body's needs, and help you come up
with an eating plan so you get the right foods to care for your body, and recover from
lymphoma and treatment.

Learn more about Diet, Nutrition and Lymphoma here: youtube.com/watch?v=YIJVKR2FrHU
Or check out our Factsheet for more information: https://tinyurl.com/44jsawv8

You can also look at our website on how to manage side effects of
treatment and still eat the right foods: https://www.lymphoma.org.au/lymphoma/side-effects-of-treatment/

23/07/2026

Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT)
The Future of Patient Positioning in Radiation Therapy
Modern radiation therapy is no longer based solely on lasers and skin marks.

Today, many treatment centers use a technology that monitors the patient's position in real time—without adding any extra radiation dose.

This technology is known as Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT).

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What is SGRT?

Surface Guided Radiation Therapy (SGRT) is a non-ionizing imaging system that uses multiple stereoscopic cameras to create a real-time 3D surface map of the patient's body.

Instead of relying only on tattoos or external marks, SGRT continuously compares the patient's current surface with the reference surface acquired during CT simulation.

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How Does SGRT Work?

The system projects a harmless light pattern onto the patient's body.

Multiple cameras capture this pattern and reconstruct a highly accurate 3D surface model.

This live surface is then compared with the reference model from the treatment plan.

If the patient moves beyond the predefined tolerance, the system immediately detects the motion.

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Main Components

- High-resolution stereoscopic cameras
- Structured light projector
- Workstation and monitoring software
- Real-time motion tracking system
- Automatic beam-hold interface (on compatible LINACs)

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What Can SGRT Do?

✅ Initial patient positioning

✅ Real-time motion monitoring

✅ Automatic treatment interruption if excessive movement occurs

✅ Setup verification without additional imaging dose

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Clinical Applications

SGRT is widely used in:

- Breast Cancer (especially Deep Inspiration Breath Hold – DIBH)
- Brain SRS/SRT
- Head & Neck Radiotherapy
- Lung SBRT
- Prostate Treatments
- Pediatric Radiotherapy

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Why is SGRT Important?

Modern techniques such as IMRT, VMAT, and SBRT require sub-millimeter accuracy.

Even small patient movements may compromise treatment quality.

SGRT enhances treatment precision by continuously monitoring the patient's position throughout beam delivery.

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Advantages

✔ Radiation-free positioning

✔ Improved setup accuracy

✔ Continuous real-time monitoring

✔ Increased patient safety

✔ Reduced need for repeated CBCT imaging

✔ Greater confidence in high-precision treatments

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Popular SGRT Systems

- AlignRT – Vision RT
- Catalyst+ – C-RAD
- IDENTIFY – Varian

Although they differ in hardware and software, they all share the same goal:
Deliver radiation with maximum precision while minimizing patient motion.

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Limitations

- Requires proper camera calibration
- Performance may be affected by body contour changes
- Cannot directly visualize internal organ motion
- Works best when combined with IGRT

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- SGRT uses optical cameras instead of X-rays.
- It creates a real-time 3D model of the patient's surface.
- It improves positioning accuracy and patient safety.
- It is becoming the standard of care for many advanced radiotherapy treatments.

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Share your experience in the comments!

19/07/2026

☢️ Upright Proton Therapy

Julie McCrossin: Leo Cancer Care Raises $65M to Scale Its Integrated Upright Cancer Care Platform / cancer, Julie McCrossin, Leo Cancer Care, OncoDaily,

15/07/2026

Any patient can ask for a second opinion from another specialist and this may be a valuable part of your decision-making process. Your haematologist or your GP can refer you to another specialist. Some patients may feel uncomfortable asking for a second opinion, but haematologists are used to this request. Make sure any scans, biopsies, or blood test results are sent to the doctor providing the second opinion.

You have the right to ask as many questions as you need to feel confident in making
decisions about your treatment and other health care needs. You also have the right
to ask for a second opinion about the options of treatment you have been offered.

We recommend that if you have been diagnosed with a rare lymphoma, had a
difficult time getting a diagnosis, have not been able to communicate well with your
current doctor, or if you just want to hear what someone else has to say, that you ask
for a second opinion.

To learn more about getting a second opinion and some information on the referral
process, visit our website (link in bio).

You may also like to download our Fact Sheet 'Questions To Ask Your Doctor' as a guide so you are prepared before seeing your specialist here: https://tinyurl.com/mr2r7mek

14/07/2026

death rates are rising among older and far outpacing mortality, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2026. https://ow.ly/L81V50ZlEtg