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operate alongside CHSL’s first radiation treatment unit, opened in September 2007 with Sri Lanka’s first Linear Accelerator (Linac).
Both radiation treatment facilities are located in close proximity, at Park Street, Colombo 2; the new TomoTherapy Centre at No. 70, and the Linear Accelerator unit at No. 60.
Only machine of its kind in Sri Lanka
The only machine of its kind in Sri Lanka, the TomoHD unit can provide significantly more accurate radiation therapy for even the smallest tumours and reduce treatment times. Photon radiation is produced by a linear accelerator which travels around the patient and moves in unison with a device called a multi-leaf collimator that shapes the beam.
The TomoTherapy treatment system delivers radiation therapy with a spiral delivery pattern (TomoHelical) or discrete-angle approach (TomoDirect) while the couch is also moving, guiding the patient slowly through the centre of the ring.
As both a treatment delivery machine and a CT scanner, the TomoTherapy system allows doctors to take a CT scan just before each treatment. With the scan, they can verify the position of the tumor and, if necessary, adjust the patient’s position to make sure radiation is directed right where it should be.
CTrue imaging, available only with the TomoTherapy system, allows clinicians to see what they plan to treat immediately prior to beginning each treatment fraction and ensures that the tumour will not be under-dosed, and that radiation exposure to surrounding tissue will be minimised according to plan. In addition, daily CT scans can be used to adapt a treatment plan, if necessary.
Both radiation treatment units of Ceylinco Healthcare Services are housed in purpose-built solid concrete bunkers constructed to the precise specifications provided by the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA). The new building constructed by CHSL for the TomoHD machine will initially comprise of two floors of 4500 square feet each.
The TomoTherapy machine will be installed in the bunker on the ground floor which will also accommodate a data server room, a treatment planning room, an operator station, a mechanical room, a reception area, a patient waiting area and a lobby. The building is designed for later expansion up to nine floors.
Dimensional change in treatment options
Addressing media at a news conference after the opening of the new Centre, Ceylinco Healthcare Services Chairman R. Renganathan said: “The availability of TomoTherapy in Sri Lanka represents a dimensional change in the treatment options available in-country for cancer patients. It is our hope that this investment will help many patients save the costs associated with overseas travel for treatment, and receive the best radiation therapy available in the company of family and friends, which is an important factor in beating cancer. For Ceylinco Healthcare, this Centre reflects the company’s commitment to continue investing in and pioneering cutting-edge technology in Sri Lanka’s private healthcare sector.”
Scientific Institute H. S. Raffaele, Milan, Italy, Director of Radiation Oncology Department Dr. Nadia Di Muzio explained: “Through our everyday experience and our clinical studies at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, we continue to demonstrate that combining TomoTherapy’s advanced IG/IMRT technology with daily imaging allows for accurate, highly-advanced treatments that deliver significant patient benefit.”
Non-invasive and painless
Ceylinco Healthcare Services Medical Director Dr. Sarath Abeyakoon said the new TomoHD treatment system can accommodate future innovations, including the Advanced TomoTherapy Delivery Technique, a research initiative expected to reduce treatment times by 40% to 70%, while improving treatment quality.
“TomoTherapy is non-invasive and as painless as having a CT scan or an X-ray, and takes only a few minutes a day,” he said. “It is capable of treating small, large and multiple tumours, in multiple areas of the body, during the same treatment session.”
TomoTherapy can be used to treat cancers all over the body, but is especially effective for pediatric cancers, head and neck, pancreatic, left-sided breast, anal and rectal cancers, Dr. Abeyakoon added.
Ceylinco Healthcare Services owns and operates the state-of-the-art Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Unit, the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre and the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, all at Park Street, Colombo 2, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care. In its first five years of operation the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre dispensed more than 10,000 cancer treatments encompassing linear accelerator treatments, brachytherapy, radioactive iodine treatments and chemotherapy.
