How Australian-first test at GenesisCare helped Rockhampton woman Marilyn Reabel’s treatment

An Australian-first test has arrived in Central Queensland to help personalise treatments for women with a common form of breast cancer. Here’s what it involves.

When Rockhampton’s Marilyn Reabel was first diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in March, she was worried she would have to do trips back and forward to Brisbane for her treatment.

But in a first for the Rockhampton region, women who have the common form of non-invasive breast cancer will have access to an innovative test to help predict outcomes and inform personalised treatment plans.

DCISionRT it a precision medicine test that combines the latest innovations in molecular biology with artificial intelligence to assess the 10-year risk of DCIS returning or progressing to local invasive breast cancer and can also predict whether radiation therapy would be of additional benefit to surgery alone.

The test and technology has been rolled out at GenesisCare clinics across the country.

Tissue is collected from the patient during surgery and it is sent to the United States of America for testing, with a turn around of about three weeks.

The turn-around period is the recommended recovery time for patients before starting therapy, adding no further delays to their treatment.

More than 147 women in Central Queensland are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and DCIS accounts for one in five of these cases.

Marilyn was one of these people and thanks to the DCISionRT test, she has been able to stay in Rockhampton for her treatment.

Her risk score came back as elevated, which meant she would benefit from radiation.

“Accessing the test gave me that added assurance that I was undergoing the right treatment for me and minimising the chance of reoccurrence down the track,” she said.

“I personally think it is fantastic that I could access this test and my radiation therapy right here in Rockhampton and not have to travel in to Brisbane, which I did have to do when I was previously diagnosed with thyroid cancer.”

Marilyn underwent treatment for three weeks and said if she had to go to Brisbane she would have had to stay there.

“Here it’s so much easier, it’s lovely that this is here,” she said.

“It’s just easier to drive up, have the treatment here and then go home.”

Radiation oncologist at GenesisCare Rockhampton Dr Sean Brennan said managing DCIS required a “tailored approach” based on each woman’s “unique risk factors”.

He said the DCISionRT was a “game changer”.

“Different patients may require different treatment approaches. In the past, we have looked at factors such a tumour grade and size to determine treatment plans for patients with DCIS,” he said.

“What we have with this new test is something that is much more reliable, much more refined and ushers in the era of much more personalised medicine for the individual patient.

“The whole thrust of treatment in regional areas is to provide a level of care that is comparable to the premiere units in the metropolitan units and that’s what we’re able to do here in Rockhampton.

“That’s not only from a technological perspective but it’s also access to all of these additional supportive tests that refine the diagnosis and treatment options for patients locally.”

For more information on DCIS and the DCISionRT test visit the GenesisCare website.