Yashoda Cancer Institute Commences Treatments with Clinac Linear Accelerator

Clinicians at a leading cancer centre in India have become the first in the country to commence advanced lung, liver and brain radiotherapy treatments using an upgraded Clinac® medical linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems. The accelerator has been enhanced for High Intensity Mode dose delivery capability, enabling stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery; this approach delivers the total dose in fewer treatment sessions, meaning conventional treatment times of five to six weeks can be reduced to just a few days. At Yashoda, stereotactic treatments are used for lung, liver, spinal and cranial treatments.

"We are a high volume centre treating up to 20 stereotactic radiosurgery patients each month and by using the new High Intensity Mode we are able to treat these patients in a conventional treatment slot of about 15 minutes," says Dr. G. S. Rao, managing director of Yashoda Cancer Institute. "This is really pretty amazing and would have been unheard of a few years ago." Dr. Rao said the High Intensity Mode has an especially important role to play for elderly lung cancer patients who are considered inoperable, offering them an alternative to surgery.

Yashoda Cancer Institute recently hosted a seminar on High Intensity Mode Radiosurgery at the Hyatt Park Hotel in Hyderabad which was attended by Clinicians from across Asia to share experiences and hear from some the leading exponents in radiosurgery from across the world. The inauguration ceremony was headed by the Honourable First Chief Minister of Telangana State, Sri K. Chandrasekhar Rao Garu.