CANCER TREATMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1934, Page 7

CANCER TREATMENT

VERY POWERFUL RAY.

NEW PLANT IN SYDNEY.

Sydney, July 5. Within the next few weeks Sydney will have the largest deep therapy apparatus in Australia and one of the biggest in the world (says the New Zealand Herald’s correspondent). The rays of the new plant, which is to be used in connection with cancer treatment, will be so penetrating that a special building is being constructed for it Buildings with ordinary walls are quite unsuitable, and tons of lead have been used in this unique structure—the only one of its kind in Australia. It will be attached to the Coast Hospital, an institution managed by the Government. When X-rays were first used in the treatment of cancer i; was possible to make tubes that would withstand only a few thousand volts. Most of the rays were Very soft and would not penetrate very far. They were therefore absorbed by the skin, and .were suitable for treating conditions that were merely superficial.' It soon became apparent that higher voltage would have to be used, and that led to the production of a very high voltage machine. It is claimed that the developments in this respect are greater in New South Wales than in any other Sta'..: in the Commonwealth. According to one expert, it is possible that more patients are treated by high voltage in New South Wales —voltages exceeding 200,000—than in any other part of the world. In one or two other countries machines have been used experimentally at a'very high voltage, even as high as 700,000. Such machines are not available for routine work. In New South Wales three machines have been installed which will produce 300,000 volts, and the plant about to be installed at the Coast Hospital will produce 400,000 volts. Ail these machines have been made in Australia. From an electrical standpoint there is nd objection to using a still higher voltage, but the limitation is the X-ray tube. New Zealand has a 200,000-volt machine supplied by a Sydney firm.