A LEADING cancer charity is calling on NHS Scotland to reveal how many patients are missing out on the latest precision radiotherapy – which is considered standard treatment in many parts of the world.

Cancer Research UK says an investigation by The Herald has highlighted "significant differences" in the radiotherapy treatment offered by different health boards and says clear information about where modern forms are being used should be available to patients and doctors.

Scientific advances mean radiotherapy can be targeted more accurately at tumours, reducing side-effects and potentially increasing the chance of cure.

Experts say the equipment required to deliver such precise treatment is available across Scotland, but research by The Herald suggests wide variation in whether patients are benefitting from the technique.

NHS Tayside, which includes the constituency of Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison, appears to have been slower than some other areas to deliver intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), where radiation beams are shaped to hit the cancerous cells but avoid healthy tissue.

However, other health boards including NHS Lothian provided very little information about how many patients receive IMRT treatment.

Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager in Scotland, said: “Improving understanding of radiotherapy offered in each area (of Scotland) should be a priority for those responsible for organising these services so any gaps can be addressed urgently.

“Scotland has some state of the art equipment capable of delivering world-class radiotherapy but it seems many patients are not benefitting from this.”

The Scottish Government’s new cancer strategy includes £50m for improving radiotherapy equipment and related staff training. Mr McNie welcomed this, but he said it was vital “patchy access” was tackled quickly and effectively.

Mr McNie said: “The Herald’s information also shows a worrying lack of clarity about whether patients are actually receiving modern radiotherapy in each of Scotland’s cancer centres.

“Clear information about whether modern radiotherapy is available in a health board area, as well as the benefits of these techniques, should be available to patients, as well as to doctors and service managers.

“Modern radiotherapy techniques target tumours more precisely, reducing side effects and increasing the chance of successful treatment.”

Patients with head and neck cancers were among the first to benefit from IMRT. The more precise treatment has been shown to reduce damage to salivary glands which can cause long term discomfort and health risks.

Official data has been published showing well above 80 per cent of head and neck cancer patients who need radiotherapy receive IMRT in most health board areas. However in NHS Dumfries and Galloway the proportion was 75% and in NHS Tayside it was 68%.

In response to a Freedom of Information Request sent by The Herald, NHS Tayside also said no breast cancer patients received IMRT and in 2015 eight per cent of prostate cancer patients received IMRT - a figure they later described as skewed and out of date.

In contrast, detailed information supplied by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde shows the vast majority of radiotherapy given to breast cancer patients is IMRT and 99% of radiotherapy for prostate cancer is intensity modulated.

The health board, Scotland’s largest, also listed UK targets for IMRT treatment and showed its performance against them for more than 10 types of cancer.

NHS Grampian indicated all breast cancer patients, including those from Orkney and Shetland, who received radiotherapy had a form of IMRT although they were unable to provide much detail on other cancers.

NHS Lothian, which looks after patients in the East of Scotland, said they did not have access to information about IMRT access “in a centrally extractable format”. NHS Highland, indicated all appropriate breast and head and neck cancer patients received IMRT, but were unable to answer for other cancers.

Professor Alan Rodger, former chairman of the Scottish Radiotherapy Advisory Group, said: “Looking at all the centres in Scotland I am encouraged to see that in places there has been a significant increase in use of modern radiotherapy techniques and technology which in many parts of the world such as Australia, America and Europe are considered standard rather than advanced.”

He said that delivering precision radiotherapy, such as IMRT, requires doctors, physicists and other NHS staff to help plan treatment in advance so it places a new demand on their time and requires “leadership”.

Experts say clear data is available showing access to IMRT in England.

It is understood a meeting has taken place this week to discuss figures showing details about access to different types of radiotherapy in Scotland – but the information has not been placed in the public domain.

Ms Robison said the Scottish Government's cancer strategy would "help to ensure that patients who can benefit from advanced radiotherapy have access to treatment regardless of where they live".

Improving access to high quality, accurate, data is also part of the strategy, she said.

Ms Robison added: “Our £2m investment in the Innovative Healthcare Delivery Programme will help create a cohesive and robust cancer intelligence system which will help ensure better planning of cancer services and will be a key factor in driving improvements in patient care throughout Scotland.”

Dr Richard Casasola, clinical lead for oncology for NHS Tayside, said: “In Tayside, any patient with a head or neck cancer that would benefit from Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) will be given it. All radical prostate cancers are treated with IMRT.

“We do not treat breast cancer patients with IMRT as there is currently little evidence that this would benefit the patient.”