Wirral oncologist receives prestigious ESTRO ‘lifetime achievement award’
Posted 7th May 2020
A leading oncologist who has dedicated his career to treating patients with rectal cancer has been awarded the prestigious ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) Lifetime Achievement Award, only the sixth British doctor to receive the award in its 13 years.
Professor Arthur Sun Myint is the Lead Clinician at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Papillon Suite. He visited Lyon in 1992 with his team to study contact x-ray brachytherapy known as Papillon. He introduced Papillon treatment technique for rectal cancer in the UK. He helped design a new contact radiotherapy machine together with his mentor Prof Gerard in collaboration with the team at Clatterbridge and engineers from Ariane, a British company that produce these machines.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre was the first centre in the UK to provide Papillon treatment for patients with rectal cancer. Since 1993, more than 2000 patients has been treated using Papillon technique, the largest cohort of patients treated by this technique in the world. This treatment technique is named after the French Professor, Jean Papillon, who popularised this treatment.
For the past 27 years, Professor Sun Myint has been treating patients with rectal cancer using Papillon techniques, especially those in the early stages of the disease and in patients who are not suitable for surgery. This treatment avoids invasive surgery and the need for a stoma bag for the rest of their lives. Professor Sun Myint also organises training for clinicians around the world together with his mentor Prof Jean Pierre Gerard. There are now 15 centres around Europe offering this treatment to local patients; four centres in the UK and 11 centres on the continent. More centres in Europe, Australia and USA are due to open shortly.
In September 2015, this technique was approved by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) for early rectal tumours in patients who are not suitable for surgery (IPG 153, 2015). For patients suitable for surgery, Prof Sun Myint is collaborating with other European investigators in a European phase 3 randomised trial OPERA (Organ Preservation for Early Rectal Adenocarcinoma) which randomised between external beam chemo-radiotherapy (EBCRT) and external radiotherapy boost (the standard of care) against EBCRT and Papillon boost (investigational treatment). So far, 146 patients out of 140 recruitment target have been randomised and this trial is due to close in June 2020.
The ESTRO Lifetime Achievement Award honours those who have dedicated their professional lives to radiation oncology and to the ESTRO, a professional body which represents radiotherapists and oncologists around Europe. Prof Sun Myint was a chair of GEC ESTRO rectal brachytherapy group from 2011 and also served as the president of International Contact X-ray Brachytherapy network group (ICONE) from 2013 to 2018.
Professor Sun Myint was appointed as a specialist advisor in rectal brachytherapy for NICE in 2006, 2013 and reappointed in 2019. He has also been appointed a specialist adviser in oncology to the Minister of Health and Sports in Myanmar, where he is originally from.
Professor Sun Myint was awarded the Marie Curie CAST award from Horizon 2020, which is an EU-funded bursary. Working with the University of Liverpool and Professor Mark Pritchard, he will be able to recruit two PhD students to work with them on research into rectal cancer, as part of the award funding for the next 4 years.
In 2018, The UK Papillon Team led by Prof Sun Myint was awarded the prestigious British Medical Journal’s ‘Cancer Team of the Year’. This award recognises teams that have measurably improved care in cancer through innovation and commitment. Judges’ commented that Papillon provides a real alternative treatment option for patients with rectal cancer, with a solid evidence base and good outcome data and information. It gives patients greater choice and empowers them in their decision making.
Professor Sun Myint said:“I’m very pleased to receive this ESTRO life time achievement award. It’s recognition of my hard work over the past 40 years working as an oncologist in the UK and developing this innovative technique for the benefit of my patients, who are not suitable for surgery nor satisfied to live with a stoma.
“This award represents my lifetime work on rectal cancer, which I devoted my research interest on. In addition, I also try to establish my patients’ rights for their treatment. Our patients are our equal partners and we should include them in shared decision making. We should work with them to allow them to make the choice for the treatment which they can accept and not insists on what we as clinicians consider to be the best treatment for them”.
Congratulating Professor Sun Myint on his award, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Chief Executive Liz Bishop, said: “Professor Sun Myint’s dedication to his patients and to the development of an effective treatment for rectal cancer is undeniable and I’m delighted that he’s been recognised by ESTRO with this prestigious award.
“I’d like to congratulate him on behalf of all his colleagues at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and thank him for his years of commitment to the safe care of his patients.”
For more information on Papillon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMR-R4vUV8&t=2s
