St. John’s, Antigua, February 5, 2010 - It is well recognised that a key component of successful cancer treatment is to have experts discuss a case before treatment begins so as to ensure the most up to date and personalised care is delivered to the patient.

A year ago, The Cancer Centre in Nassau, Bahamas inaugurated a monthly ‘Professors Cancer Clinic’ where Professor the Hon. Arthur Porter and Professor Karol Sikora have provided consultations to patients suffering from Cancer.

Professor Karol Sikora is Dean of the Medical School at Buckingham University in the UK and leads the Medical Oncology Service at The Cancer Centre, and Professor Arthur Porter is CEO at the McGill University Health Centre and is the Managing Director of The Cancer Centre. Both hold rank as Full Professors in leading Institutions in the UK and Canada.

In November 2009, a joint venture was initiated between The Cancer Centre, Bahamas and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to extend quality Cancer services to that Territory. Since that time Professor Sikora and Porter have provided monthly ‘Professorial Clinics’ in St. Johns, Antigua.

On Friday 29th January 2010, a total of 45 Cancer patients were seen in clinics held in Nassau (Prof. Sikora) and in St John’s (Prof. Porter). Following the clinics, the two Professors and their teams held an internet based videoconference where all the patients were discussed and joint decisions on their future clinical care were rendered.

“This is a first for us - using internet based technology to allow each patient that we saw, whether in Nassau or St John’s, to have the benefit of two Professors and five Oncologists consulting on their cases”, said Professor Porter.

“This will ensure a much higher degree of rigor than a typical consultation with an individual consultant – patients physically see one or two consultants and then all of the cancer specialists discuss each case - it is the way to go”, agreed Professor Sikora.

Dr. Conville Brown, CEO of The Cancer Centre stated “We have spent the last seven years ensuring an unparalleled level of quality in our operations – this is another important leap forward.”

The Cancer Centre intends to continue to host joint Professorial Clinics in the Bahamas and Antigua on a monthly basis.