MR-Linac SABR at GenesisCare Oxford

What happens here

GenesisCare Oxford is a private cancer treatment centre with an MR-Linac: a radiotherapy machine with an MRI scanner built around it, so the team can see the tumour and the organs beside it while you are on the couch, adapt the plan to that day, and pause the beam if the target moves. Dr Harinarayanan plans SABR delivered here, a short course of very precise, high-dose radiotherapy, for cancer that has spread to a small number of places and for selected other tumours.

He holds MR-Linac SABR accreditation from GenesisCare UK. He plans your treatment and reviews you on treatment days; GenesisCare’s radiographers and physicists deliver it on the machine and bill for the treatment.

A limited NHS route, unlike the other two centres

Unlike the London and Guildford centres, GenesisCare Oxford has a limited NHS contract and treats a small number of NHS patients there on a compassionate basis. This is the exception rather than the rule: everywhere else, and for most patients here too, MR-Linac SABR remains a private treatment. He will tell you honestly whether an NHS route could apply in your case.

Why Oxford rather than London or Guildford

Dr Harinarayanan plans and oversees treatment on the MR-Linac here, at Cromwell Hospital in London, and at GenesisCare Guildford. The treatment is the same at all three. Which site you attend is agreed when the plan is made, usually based on what is easiest for you to reach and where a slot is available.

Before you come

Consultations, the decision about whether MR-Linac SABR is right for you, and follow-up all happen at Spire Southampton Hospital. You come to Oxford for the machine only.

The first visit is usually the planning session: you lie on the treatment couch while the machine takes MRI pictures, and those pictures are used to build your plan. Treatment sessions follow as a short course. Each takes longer than a standard radiotherapy visit because the machine scans you again and the team adapts the plan before the dose is given. You go home the same day.

Finding the centre

The address is Peters Way, Sandy Lane West, Oxford, OX4 6LB. The centre is in Littlemore on the south-east edge of the city, close to the Oxford ring road. It is a GenesisCare centre with its own entrance, reception and car park. The map link on this page opens the centre in Google Maps for directions from wherever you are starting.

Getting here

By car, the centre is close to the Oxford ring road and the A34. There is parking on site. By train, Oxford station is on the main line from London Paddington and from the South Coast via Reading, and the centre is a taxi ride from it.

If you are tired or unwell from treatment, please have someone drive you rather than driving yourself.

What to bring

Bring your appointment letter, a list of the medicines you take and, if you are insured, your pre-authorisation number. GenesisCare will tell you separately whether to eat or drink beforehand and whether to follow any preparation, such as a full or empty bladder or a particular breathing pattern. Wear comfortable clothes without metal, because you will be inside an MRI scanner, and tell the team about any implant or metal in your body before your first visit.