Prostate cancer diagnostic Illuccix to be launched in Hobart, giving hope to Tasmanian men

For cancer patients like Hobart’s Andrei Norris, the availability of a new tool to help manage prostate cancer is offering a glimmer of hope that a cure for the deadly disease could one day be realised.

Qscan Hobart will now provide imaging with an advanced prostate cancer diagnostic known as Illuccix. Picture: Supplied

Andrei Norris has endured radiation treatment, hormone therapy and six rounds of chemotherapy in a battle to rid himself of prostate cancer – and now the 51-year-old public servant is hopeful that a groundbreaking new diagnostic testing agent will make it easier for Tasmanian men like him to fight the deadly disease.

Mr Norris, a father of two who works for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2017, at age 45.

After a years-long “arm wrestle”, his cancer readings are down to zero. However, Mr Norris said he’d been told that the cancer was likely to return “at some point”.

“I’m going to need further treatment, so we move to the next tool in the armoury of tools we have to try to control prostate cancer,” he said.

Hobart man, Andrei Norris, who has battled prostate cancer, pictured here undergoing chemotherapy treatment in 2021. Picture: Supplied

That tool is Illuccix, the only PSMA-PET/CT diagnostic to be registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the detection and staging of prostate cancer.

In what will come as a glimmer of hope for Tasmanian cancer patients, imaging using Illuccix will now be available at Qscan Hobart. The new technology will be launched on Thursday to coincide with Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia chief of mission and head of research, Professor Jeff Dunn, said Illuccix was “revolutionary”.

Qscan Hobart will now provide imaging with an advanced prostate cancer diagnostic known as Illuccix. Picture: Supplied

“Illuccix helps cancer specialists find the smallest trace of prostate cancer so they can treat it, providing a reliability and level of detection that has never been available to us before,” he said.

“It is helping us to find potentially lethal prostate cancer cells wherever they are in the body, including where it has spread, allowing doctors to treat it before it can grow any further.”

Qscan Hobart clinic manager Trent Barter said the new service would benefit hundreds of Tasmanian men.

“One of the advantages of Illuccix is that it can be produced using a generator, a small benchtop device that allows us to prepare doses on demand, and in as little as 15 minutes,” he said.

Clinic Manager at Qscan Radiology Hobart, Trent Barter. Qscan Hobart will now provide imaging with an advanced prostate cancer diagnostic known as Illuccix. Picture: Supplied

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among Tasmanian men, with 73 deaths recorded each year and 565 diagnoses.

For Mr Norris, the availability of Illuccix has given him renewed hope for the future.

“We know that the faster you get treated, the better the outcomes are with this disease, like other forms of cancer. But it’s also reducing that wait and that uncertainty for men about where the cancer is, and what we need to do to treat it,” he said.

“Everything we can do to move ourselves towards better control and ultimately a cure for prostate cancer is a great thing.”

Originally published as Prostate cancer diagnostic Illuccix to be launched in Hobart, giving hope to Tasmanian men