NSW first prostate cancer centre opens at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney

05 Nov 2024

In a NSW-first, St Vincent’s has opened a centre for the treatment of prostate cancer that offers free integrated care to public and private patients alike.

Based at its Sydney hospital campus, the $4.3 million St Vincent’s NELUNE Men’s Health Centre offers a ‘one stop shop’ of multi-disciplinary services and treatments supported by St Vincent’s Sydney’s expertise in urology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, cancer genetics, and theranostics (nuclear medicine), as well as the wrap-around services so important to recovery, such as a specialist prostate cancer nurse, physiotherapists, psychologists, and dietitians.

The Centre is the initiative of St Vincent’s clinicians who were conscious of growing unmet needs among men with prostate cancer. It offers an integrated model of care commonly found in the fight against breast cancer, but for which there are only a small handful of similar sites in Australia for men experiencing prostate cancer. Of these sites, none in NSW offers access to public patients.

Underpinned by generous philanthropic support from the NELUNE Foundation and donors to the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation, the St Vincent’s NELUNE Men’s Health Centre is the first service in NSW offering free access to both public and private patients alike.

St Vincent’s urologist Dr Ben Namdarian said the St Vincent’s NELUNE Men’s Health Centre would be a game-changer for men with prostate cancer.

“When it comes to treating prostate cancer we need to ensure that, whether you’re in the public or private health system, you’ve got equal access to the same high quality care, particularly in the areas of precision medicine, robotic surgery, and allied health,” said Dr Namdarian.

“It can be particularly difficult to access and coordinate all the different and specialised allied health services that are so important to improving outcomes for men. And you need different supports at different stages of your treatment.

“The St Vincent’s NELUNE Men’s Health Centre offers all the services needed to improve a patient’s chances for a full recovery in the one place. It’s literally a ‘one stop shop’. All the research tells us that if – in parallel to a prostate cancer patient’s diagnosis and treatment – they’ve got access to a range of allied health services and social supports, then their outcomes are much better.

“This is about providing equity of care for all patients. Many of the cutting-edge technologies which offer better outcomes for treating prostate cancer are currently only found in the private system. But at the St Vincent’s NELUNE Men’s Health Centre, public patients can access the same support and advanced technologies as a private patient, and at no cost.”

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, and it is estimated that one in six males will be diagnosed by the time they are 85. (Source: Cancer Council)

“Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the NELUNE Foundation and the donors to the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation we’re able to do something really new and exciting here for men experiencing prostate cancer.”