Modified treatment for cervical cancer patients

Mar 28, 2017 News

…as CIG commences use of new equipment

Three patients of the Cancer Institute of Guyana (CIG) have already received treatment using the newly commissioned High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy.

Dr. Sayan Chakraborty giving a tour of the ‘monitoring room’ – a component of the upgraded radiation therapy.

Chief Oncologist and Medical Director of the Institute, Dr. Sayan Chakraborty, said that the newly commissioned equipment was brought into Guyana, with the aim of administering more effective treatment to cervical cancer patients. It replaces the Low Dose Radiation (LDR) treatment, which had been in use since 2009.
“With the LDR treatment, the patient had to be immobilized for three long days at the hospital,” Dr. Chakraborty said. He highlighted that with the new HDR treatment, the same therapy can be successfully administered in just 15 minutes to 20 minutes.
“They can go home right after the treatment,” he added.
Chakraborty explained that the multimillion-dollar equipment requires the temporary implantation of a catheter, a small plastic tube, directly on the tumor itself.
“Only the tumor will get the required amount of radiation; nowhere else…the other parts of the body will be absolutely safe from the radiation,” the oncologist noted.
Chakraborty highlighted, too, that after the treatment is administered, a remote controlled programme is used to retract the catheter.
The entire procedure, Dr. Chakraborty pointed out, is recorded and monitored by a fully trained medical practitioner, stationed in a nearby room. This is done with the use of cameras.
“This ensures that nobody, except the patient, is exposed to the radiation…not the doctors, not the relatives or anybody…just the patient and just the part of the body that is intended to receive the treatment,” the CIG official said.
Dr. Chakraborty told Kaieteur News yesterday, that the treatment upgrade was much needed to complete a comprehensive treatment procedure needed for cervical cancers.
“With the external radiation and chemo treatment along with the HDR, we are confident that we can effectively treat cervical cancer in patients today up to international standards,” he pointed out.
The new treatment, which is used only in the most advanced medical centers across the world, is not only ideal for controlling cancerous tumours, but it also significantly lowers the chances of a recurrence.
“I did a small study which shows that the patients, who did not do the brachytherapy, had a 43 percent chance of reoccurrence of the disease…that is, the disease coming back at the same site.”
Dr. Chakraborty said that even though the machine was brought into the country with the aim of treating gynecological cancers like cervical cancer, it can treat many others.
“It can also treat breast cancers and many others,” Dr. Chakraborty posited.
He could not say how much the equipment costs exactly, but insists that it is worth, “millions of US dollars.”
“Guyana is among the two or three countries in the region that has this equipment…it is very state of the art.”
Dr. Chakraborty assured that the treatment is just as effective, but much more expensive outside of Guyana.

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