They're reporting of a "groundswell" of support coming forward in the push for "equitable, quality health care" for the people of western NSW.

The petition is part of a community-driven campaign for the centre it is anticipated would service more than 200,000 people.

On Monday doctors, a Rotarian and parliamentarians stood side by side in Dubbo's main street to tell media of the momentum that was building in the push for a service that was "desperately, desperately needed".

The petition calls for federal funding for stage four of the NSW government's redevelopment of Dubbo Hospital, with Parkes MP Mark Coulton previously saying he understood waiting until a later date to build a stand-alone cancer clinic would be $15 million more expensive.

Specialist physician Dr Colin McClintock is involved in the campaign that is taking the petition out into the community - to shopping centres, businesses and other community meeting places.

He said it was "heart-warming" to see the level of support from Dubbo and the towns served by Dubbo Hospital.

"The groundswell and the passion that we're seeing, it's a sleeping giant, and it's just wonderful to see," he said.

"I've been in Dubbo nearly nine years now and this is the first time I've seen that fighting spirit and as I said, it's incredibly heart-warming to see.

"This is something that we desperately, desperately need for this town, the west of the state, the north-west of the state, as Troy Grant and Mark Coulton have said, to start delivering equitable, quality health care to the people that need it most in the state."

The petition tells of doctors from the Western NSW Local Health District who have reported there were many cases where regional residents were refusing to undertake diagnosis and treatment for cancer because they could not afford to leave their homes and families.

Dubbo's first resident oncologist Dr Florian Honeyball vouched for the terrible reality on Monday.

"There are lots of personal stories, I see it in my day-to-day work," he said.

"Someone who won't travel 300km to get their radiation treatment because they can't get home the same day to look after their dog.

"I see a woman having to struggle to go to Sydney for a clinical trial because we just don't have the infrastructure to offer that here in Dubbo.

"So I see the realities day to day, I hear it, we all hear it day-to-day while we're manning the stations.

"There are lots of human stories where we could change people's lives by providing this cancer care centre in Dubbo."

Rotary Club of Dubbo West member Lyn Smith said the petition was available at "every pharmacy at Dubbo, a number of newsagencies", as well as the Dubbo Visitors Information Centre, Western Plains Regional Council and Astley's Plumbing and Hardware.

Businesses had also been flooding the Cancer Centre for Dubbo Hospital Facebook page with their selfies, she said.