[WATCH] Oncology hospital to receive first radiotherapy patients tomorrow

Oncology hospital to receive first radiotherapy patients

The Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre will tomorrow receive its first cancer patients for radiotherapy, who will make use of two state-of-the-art linear accelerators. The machines, costing some €20 million, allow for quicker and more precise radiotherapy.

Sina Bugeja, Special Projects CEO in charge of patient migration, explained that patients currently undergoing radiotherapy treatment at the Sir Paul Boffa Hospital will continue their treatment there.

“It is a clinical decision based on the fact that patients can’t have their treatment machines changed. So patients currently at the Boffa Hospital will continue to receive their radiotherapy treatment there; patients who are yet to start their treatment will have theirs at the new centre,” Bugeja told MaltaToday.

It is planned that the full migration of patients will be completed by end September. The detailed plan outlining the move also includes the transfer of young cancer sufferers from Mater Dei Hospital, the haematology department and pharmacy services.

“Bringing everything under one roof, especially with specialisation in the sector advancing, means that all experts will be at hand,” Bugeja added.

The €52 million oncology centre caters for 113 beds, up from 78 beds at Boffa Hospital. On the other hand, the outpatients department can see up to 400 patients in a week.

Health Parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne said the state-of-the-art equipment not only provides precise radiotherapy but also minimises side effects. “We are currently in the process of training nurses and healthcare specialists so as to have more human resources,” he said.

It will also be possible for patients and visitors to make use of wifi at the oncology hospital.

The linear accelerators consist of high-tech radiotherapy equipment used to target tumours through the use of external beam radiation treatments. The machines make use of kV and 3D imaging, which allows frequent two- and three-dimensional imaging during the course of radiation treatment.

“The technology makes it easier to point the rays to the tumour,” medical physicist Dorothy Aquilina said.

Medical physicist expert Martin Pirotta explained how a patient to undergo radiotherapy would first require a CT scan to locate the tumour. “The consultants would then outline the treatment plan, which includes the inputting of data in a computerised system. The computer contains information on what the machine should do when the rays hit the patient,” Pirotta said, explaining that it was essentially a mathematical model of how the machine interacts with the patient.

In figures

2,000 persons diagnosed with cancer every year

On average, a total of 700 people lose their battle, with

25% of deaths in Malta related to cancer

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in Malta

The most common cancers in women are:

1.       Breast: 34%

2.       Colorectal: 10.6%

3.       Uterus: 7.3%

The most common cancers in men are:

1.       Prostate – 21%

2.       Lung – 15.5%

3.       Colorectum – 12.2%