Acibadem Healthcare Group Offers First Rapidarc Treatment in The Middle East and Expands by Adding Four Additional Linear Accelerators

12 August 2009

The first hospital group in the Middle East and Turkey to offer cancer patients advanced RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy treatments has acquired four additional linear accelerators from Varian Medical Systems. Leading Turkish Hospital Group; Acibadem, has expanded its radiotherapy facilities in Turkey from three to five with new centers in Adana and Kayseri.

RapidArc treatments have commenced at Acibadem's Maslak Hospital in Istanbul, enabling more advanced care to more patients.  Doctors at Acibadem Maslak are using the technology to carry out image-guided IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy) treatments on a wide range of tumors.

RapidArc delivers a precise and efficient treatment in single or multiple arcs of the medical linear accelerator around the patient and makes it possible to deliver image-guided IMRT two to eight times faster than is possible with a conventional IMRT. Faster treatments allow for greater precision, since there is less chance of patient or tumor movement during treatment and with less time on the treatment couch, also allowing for greater patient comfort.

"Our group continually invests in the latest technology and we strive to offer the most advanced cancer care in Turkey," said Enis Ozyar, M.D., professor of radiation oncology at Acibadem Healthcare Group.  "We are delighted to be the first in the region to offer RapidArc treatments. "

Acibadem Healthcare Group established its first radiotherapy center in Turkey in 2005, siting two Varian Clinac(R) linear accelerators in Istanbul Kozyatagi Hospital. A second center equipped with two more Clinac accelerators was opened in Bursa in April last year, while the third - and largest - radiotherapy facility was established at Istanbul's Maslak Hospital earlier this year, with a Trilogy(R) unit for radiosurgery and a Clinac accelerator with RapidArc capability, along with a VariSource(R) HDR (high dose rate) brachytherapy unit. Each site has a suite of Varian's ARIA(TM) oncology information management software and Eclipse(TM) treatment planning software.

The two new departments in Adana and Kayseri have just commenced treatments, matching Maslak with a Trilogy, a Clinac, a VariSource and full suites of software. With their new equipment and software, all five hospitals in the Acibadem Healthcare Group are able to offer IMRT and IGRT.  The group placed orders for the new equipment and software in March.

"Acibadem Healthcare Group has quickly become one of our most significant customers in the Europe and the Middle East, demonstrating a commitment to improving treatment excellence," says Michael Sandhu, head of Varian's Oncology Systems business in Europe. "We are delighted that Acibadem is ensuring that an increasing number of Middle Eastern and Turkish cancer patients will gain access to advanced radiotherapy treatments."

Find out the cost of RapidArc radiotherapy treatment at Acibadem Hospital, Turkey

Source: http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090812072236