NEIGRIHMS achieved yet another milestone recently by starting 4D radiation therapy for cancer patients for the first time in the region.
This advanced form of radiotherapy is offered by very few centres in India. Extremely useful in the treatment of tumours that move with breathing, this special technique helps targeting tumours of the lung, liver and pancreas wherein radiation can be focused precisely to destroy the cancer without much damage to the surrounding normal tissue and organs.
Prof Dr Nalin Mehta, Director of NEIGRIHMS, congratulated the team comprising Drs Sumit Kumar, Deiwakor Chyrmang, resident doctors, radiation safety officer, medical physicist and the radiotherapy technologists for excellent teamwork and said, “I’m very proud to declare that the NEIGRIHMS radiotherapy department has standardised the delivery of this special 4D-RT, also called respiratory gating, that targets cancer masses that move with patient’s breathing while at the same time limiting collateral damage to surrounding tissue”.
He also stated that, “With the installation of other state-of-the-art facilities like High Energy Linear Accelerator, 4D-CT simulator and Brachytherapy, world class cancer treatment will now be offered at the Regional Cancer Centre at NEIGRIHMS to not only patients of our state of Meghalaya but also to those from other North Eastern states as well as the neighbouring countries, who otherwise had to travel far for advanced cancer treatment”.
The Regional Cancer Centre was inaugurated by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya over the weekend.
Dr Vikas Jagtap, Additional Professor and head of the department of radiotherapy, explained that such treatment required a good amount of time and application of technology. Also, the patients have to be coached for a few days in breathing pattern exercises to aid precise and accurate delivery of focused radiation. He added that 250 patients had so far been treated with advanced radiation techniques like 3D-CRT, VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) and ARC therapy which helps reduce side effects of radiation to a great extent.
During his visit, Mandaviya praised the efforts of NEIGRIHMS in providing quality cancer treatment and emphasised its role as a major health hub for the entire North East.
Radiotherapy and chemotherapy at NEIGRIHMS are offered at highly subsidised rates to cancer patients. For those who are enrolled under MHIS and PMJAY schemes, the benefit of cashless treatment is offered on the production of the registration card.
