Al Amal Hospital in Doha, a leading cancer centre, has introduced fast and efficient radiotherapy treatments from Varian Medical Systems, a US-based manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer.

The hospital has treated nine brain cancer, prostate cancer and head and neck cancer patients with Varian’s RapidArc since commencing treatments in early May, and it now plans to roll out the technology for many more indications.

"Faster treatments that adapt radiation dose to the tumor are always desirable in radiotherapy and we are very proud to join other prominent oncology centres worldwide in offering this technology," said Dr Noora Al Hammadi, director of Al Amal Hospital's radiation oncology programme.

"State-of-the-art capabilities such as RapidArc offer our patients a fast and efficient way of receiving more advanced radiotherapy treatments.”

“Since we introduced RapidArc on our two Varian linear accelerators, we have widened the indications that we treat with the technique and we expect this trend to continue as it becomes more and more a part of our centre's routine treatment approach,” Dr Al Hammadi added.

Al Amal Hospital recently signed an agreement with Varian for the hospital to become a reference centre in the region for RapidArc, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and other advanced forms of radiotherapy.

"Al Amal Hospital is a great example on the fast implementation of Varian technology, made possible by a dedicated and highly motivated team," said Rolf Staehelin, head of oncology systems marketing for Varian in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.

"Within a year, the whole oncology department switched to a Varian hardware and software paperless environment, capable of delivering advanced radiotherapy techniques,” he added.

Dr Al Hammadi continued: "Varian's equipment and software supports our belief in seamless care. The ability to implement both RapidArc and stereotactic radiosurgery using 3D image guidance allows us to offer greater precision.”

“In addition, the ARIA(TM) oncology information management system has enabled us go entirely paperless and fully integrate to the hospital's imaging systems, meaning better workflow and better overall patient care." – TradeArabia News Service