Dr Peter Briggs, Head of Medical Oncology at Southern Health, says chemotherapy is almost on its deathbed, thanks to advances in cancer treatment.
By Shaun Inguanzo
PAINFUL chemotherapy treatment may soon be replaced with non-toxic oral treatments for cancer.
Dr Peter Briggs, Head of Medical Oncology at Southern Health, said local patients were already receiving the targeted treatments with great success.
Dr Briggs, who also practises privately in Noble Park, said advances in cancer treatment could mean chemotherapy would be non-existent one day.
“When I started working in oncology (in the 1980s) it was the beginning of an era of new chemotherapy treatments and being able to cure cancers for the first time,” he said.
“But often it was with the consequence of major toxicity.
“We are now entering an era where we are seeing the development of new drugs that do not have toxicities.
“They are much more targeted to specific tumours.”
Dr Briggs said that, with such medical advances, he saw many cancers as being manageable chronic diseases in the near future, like diabetes or angina.
“Targeted therapies have stopped dead certain cancers in their tracks,” he said.
“They’re not entirely cured, but the cancer is static.”
The advancements being made at Southern Health meant relief for patients, families – and even oncologists.
With cancer having been such a killer, it was at times emotionally difficult for oncologists to be bearers of bad news, Dr Briggs said.
“It is true that oncologists need to be very aware of the cumulative impact that relaying bad news can have on them personally,” he said.
“You need strategies to deal with it. One that I have is that I have a variety of work to do during the week which includes a significant component of clinical research.
“So there’s an academic outlet and some sort of positive outlet in a new world of information and research into new treatments, which offers us a lot of hope.”
