Hong Kong Hospital Provides Image-Guided System for Cancer Treatment 

The Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) in Hong Kong has become the first medical centre in Asia to treat cancer using a TrueBeam™2.0 system for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. Installation of the new system, which was provided by Varian Medical Systems was completed in February of this year and clinicians began by using it to deliver highly precise intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for the treatment of nasopharyngeal and many other forms of cancer.

"With the TrueBeam system we are completing IMRT treatments twice as quickly and with greater accuracy than was possible with our previous technology," said Rebecca Yeung, M.D., Chief of Service for the PYNEH Clinical Oncology Department.  "We have now deployed advanced TrueBeam 2.0 features that enable image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy, innovative approaches for treating brain and lung cancer.  We launched that program in March of this year.

"This level of accuracy becomes particularly important when we are delivering stereotactic radiosurgery, a method of using high doses to quickly treat tumours that are adjacent to critical structures like the brainstem or spinal cord," said Dr. Yeung.  "For treating lung tumours, the system offers 4-D imaging that shows tumour motion over time due to the patient's breathing.  It can generate images throughout a treatment to make sure that the tumour hasn't drifted out of targeting range.  These features make it especially appropriate for treating lung cancer—because lung tumours are often in constant motion."

The clinical team at PYNEH hosted a scientific symposium on May 17 for the wider clinical community highlighting appropriate uses of stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, and other cancer treatment modalities enabled by the new system.

Established in 1993 this major acute care hospital, a 1892-bed facility with over 3,000 staff, serves the eastern district of Hong Kong Island  providing treatment for some 2,200 oncology patients each year, the majority being breast, lung, colorectal, or head and neck cancer cases.