21 GHP International Life Sciences Awards 2023 FNQH is a skin cancer clinic with doctors dedicated to preventing, detecting, diagnosing, treating, and removing skin cancers. Based in Queensland, Australia, the company owns and operates two clinics, one in Cairns and another in Trinity Beach. It is also a skin cancer training centre, heavily involved in melanoma research. Most Innovative Skin Cancer Treatment Centre 2023 - Queensland NQH was originally built to provide government funded skin cancer checks and treatment in an Australian region with one of the highest rates of skin cancer incidents in the world. The clinics service approximately 66,000 patients from Cairns, and surrounding regions, treating, diagnosing, and excising skin cancers every week. At the beginning of the year (Jan/Feb 2023) FNQH diagnosed and treated 47 melanomas in one of its clinics. It is also heavily involved in research, with 4 separate clinical trials currently taking place. This enables participants access to treatments they would not normally be able to afford, or reach (because normally such treatments are confined to big city locations). FNQH seeks to raise awareness of skin cancer by taking part in campaigns such as the Melanoma March, which is something it helped to bring to Cairns earlier this year. It has also opened its own histopathology laboratory on site, considerably expediting diagnosis and treatment for patients. The company strives to achieve a zero deaths to melanoma status, and also aims to provide treatments in a timely and affordable manner, offering patients the very best possible chances of securing positive outcomes. As there is only one hospital in the region the wait to be seen for (non-melanoma) skin cancer can be more than 6 months. Disfigurement can occur over that amount of time, and patients can eventually end up facing surgeries that are larger, and entail much longer recovery times. The need for the clinics was clear. FNQH is also one of only a few primary care centres in the whole country who offer local community patients research opportunities and the chance to participate in study treatments. As a familyowned skin cancer clinic, with a group of 18 dedicated staff, all patient eligibility checks, onboarding, and ongoing trial needs for research projects are conducted in-house by Dr Vin Rajeswaran, and his wife, registered nurse Tarlia. As an area with one of the highest incidents of melanoma in the world, FNQH believes in backing research that will be of benefit to its patients, and help find better treatments for these deadly and disfiguring cancers. It was one of the first primary health centres to purchase and make available the WB360 mole mapping machine for its patients. This is used to try and map and depict changes before melanomas even occur, and is what has lead the FNQH clinic to adopt its personal aim of zero deaths to melanoma. “For our patients who have dysplastic moles (moles that are larger and irregular in size than the average mole) or for patients who have a lot of moles, we utilise Total Body Photography (TBP) to help us keep track of any changes to their moles. TBP is a valuable tool for the early detection of cancer.” Being a small, family-owned business, as opposed to a huge research institution, one of the challenges FNQH faces is a comparative lack of knowledge and understanding of running clinical trials. It is grateful that the trials it does currently run are supportive and happy to answer any questions. This means FNQH and its patients can be assured everything is being done by the book. The first trial it aligned itself with was known as the Image trial, and they were happy to mentor FNQH through the process to get them started. FNQH is already achieving great things. For example, in 2022 it diagnosed over 330 melanomas in its clinic for patients who would otherwise have had to wait over 6 months to be seen by the closest hospital. The state-of-the-art treatment and research it provides is also affordable. Dr Vin is involved in ensuring the safe sun message is heard where it is most needed, within the provinces. FNQH is also an accomplished doctor training centre, and is home to some of the educators and the censor from the Skin Cancer College of Australasia. FNQH is fully deserving of its recent award, Most Innovative Skin Cancer Treatment Centre 2023 – Queensland. We truly hope to see its fantastic work continuing to flourish, making positive difference in the region for years to come. Company: FNQH Web Address: https://fnqh.com.au/ Contact Name: Vin Rajeswaran F May23151
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