Quebec is following Ontario's lead in treating some of its cancer patients. It's sending them south of the border.

Quebec's Health Minister Pauline Marois says sending patients to the U.S. is the only way to ease a backlog in the province's hospitals. Marois says 285 cancer patients in Quebec have been waiting for radiation treatment for more than eight weeks.

Two months is widely regarded as the maximum acceptable time between diagnosis and treatment of breast and prostate cancer.

But if the experience of Ontario is any indication, it is not likely that all Quebec cancer patients will choose to travel south of the border for treatment. In Ontario, only about 30 per cent of patients made the trip. With the problem of a language barrier, the percentage of Quebecers will likely be smaller.

If an agreement is signed, treatment of Quebec cancer patients in the U.S. could begin by mid-June.

Meanwhile, an advisory group will look at spending $12 million to buy four new radiation machines for Quebec to treat 1,500 more patients annually. And Quebec plans to recruit new doctors and expand training to increase the number of radiation-therapy technicians as well.