Kenyan Hospital to Treat Cancer with Advanced Radiotherapy

For the first time, a new medical linear accelerator has been installed at a major Kenyan hospital to provide local cancer patients with advanced radiotherapy technology. The hospital has plans to treat up to 50 patients per a day on the newly installed technology.

The accelerator used was a Clinac DMX system, developed by Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA). “There are very few cancer centers in the east and central African region so we are pleased to be able to offer precise and efficient treatments on our new system,” said Dr. Cleopa Mailu, chief executive officer of the Nairobi Hospital (Kenya). “We selected Varian equipment and software because we felt it was best suited for our needs as a modern cancer treatment center.”

Patients at the private clinic will at first be treated using three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy and clinicians at the hospital plan to initiate more sophisticated treatments such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery in the near future. A 3D conformal treatment involves shaping the treatment beam so that it matches the 3D shape of the tumor, to minimize exposure of surrounding healthy tissues.

The Varian Clinac DMX is equipped with a beam-shaping device to help correlate the dose distribution to the shape, size, and location of tumors. A second Varian Clinac accelerator is due to be installed soon. The Nairobi Hospital has also acquired a full suite of Varian software and management tools including the Ariaoncology information system, Eclipse treatment planning software and a 4D integrated treatment console to enable them to deliver quality treatments quickly and care for more patients.

Vincent Ronfle, Varian’s regional sales manager in Africa, stated, “Equipping The Nairobi Hospital with modern linear accelerators and making advanced treatments available now gives a very positive signal to the country. There are some real strides being made in healthcare in this region.”

Shirley Murray, from Varian’s regional distributor Tecmed Africa, added, “For me personally, this has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable of any project I've worked on. I fell in love with Kenya and its people’s enthusiasm, professionalism and work ethic. The Nairobi Hospital’s patient care is among the best I have ever seen and I feel privileged and proud to have been part of the team that helped make Dr. Mailu’s dream a reality.”

The Nairobi Hospital is a private facility in Kenya known throughout East Africa as an advanced diagnostic and treatment hospital. This 320-bed hospital contains surgical, medical, obstetric, pediatric, and critical care wards.

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