A high-tech centre treating all types of tumours is to be established in Bahrain by the end of March, it emerged yesterday.

It will specialise in non-invasive robotic radiation therapy for cancer and neurosurgery, said officials.

The CyberKnife surgery technology is designed to treat tumours anywhere in the body with pinpoint accuracy.

It uses a high level of radiation and there is no need for incision or anaesthesia, treating all types of tumours including ones that have previously been diagnosed as inoperable.

The centre will be run by Health Care Global, which is based in Bangalore, India.

It has 1,550 beds in 22 centres in South Asia and has been using the technology for the last 18 months, but CyberKnife technology has been used in the US for the past 11 years.

"Health Care Global is starting a cancer care clinic in Dammam and has finalised negotiations. In Manama we will finalise negotiations shortly," marketing director Dinesh Madhvan told the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

"The two centres are the first in the Middle East offering this type of technology.

"We have started discussions with the Health Ministry and are now seeing the potential here.

"The clinic will be private, but we would like to work with the ministry on areas such as cancer screening because it is the number one disease in this part of the world."

Madhvan said the clinic in Bahrain would likely be established by the end of March and could be expanded later if there was a demand.

He said consultations and outpatient procedures such as chemotherapy and follow-up checks would take place at the Bahrain centre, but the majority of surgical procedures would be carried out in Dammam.

Expats who aree unable to travel to Dammam for procedures could have them conducted at any of the 22 centres in South Asia, said Madhvan.

"We have a lot of patients that travel to India and our other centres for treatment, we have treated 500 patients in the last 14 months," he said.

"CyberKnife is an alternative to surgery and the success is as good as any surgical technique, but the benefit is that it is far easier for patients to recover and it can treat inoperable tumours."

Madhvan was speaking on the sidelines of a one-day seminar on Excellence in Indian Healthcare Industry, which was held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC) yesterday. - TradeArabia News Service