The Hindu : RCC gets high-energy linear accelerator

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

RCC gets high-energy linear accelerator

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 16. The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) has acquired a state-of-the-art High Energy Linear Accelerator, which is expected to vastly improve the treatment of deep-seated tumours in cancer patients.

The Rs.7 crore high-end radiotherapy equipment is expected to transform radiotherapy schedules since it can specifically target tumours, which are both deep-seated and minuscule in size.

The linear accelerator is scheduled to be formally commissioned by the Union Minister for Health and Parliamentary Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, in the first week of July.

The RCC had so far been relying on its low energy linear accelerator for zeroing in on tumours and lesions. Patients requiring tumour management with high-energy linear accelerator were being referred to tertiary centres in Chennai.

The high-energy linear accelerator will also pave the way for the RCC— a WHO-collaborator for cancer control— to adopt highly advanced treatment modalities such as Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy, where the radiation dose directed at two dimensions of the same tumour can be adjusted in accordance with the requirement. The sophisticated machine will also facilitate what is called the 'conformal therapy', where tumours in globular organs like the prostate gland can be targeted with a high degree of precision.

The RCC Director, M. Krishnan Nair, told The Hindu that the most beneficial aspect of the equipment was the minimisation of collateral damage to the normal tissues in the immediate vicinity of a tumour.

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