Low cost modern therapy introduced at B Borooah Cancer Institute Staff reporter GUWAHATI, Aug 18 – In a significant development, Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute has introduced advanced radiation therapy in the Northeast. A patient with pituitary adenoma of the brain was treated with Intensity Modulated Radio Therapy (IMRT), and the treatment will continue for about four weeks. The highly sophisticated radiotherapy is presently available in few premiere cancer centres of the country only.
The director of BBCI, Dr AC Kataki has commended all those who played a role in achieving the feat. The patient under care of Dr Mouchumee Bhattacharya, consultant radiation oncologist, was assisted by medical physicist-cum-radiation safety officer Sachindra Goswami, and Dr NK Kalita, chief consultant of radiation oncology.
Among the benefits to patients is the comparatively low cost of receiving the treatment at BBCI. According to sources in the institute, the advanced treatment costs Rs.90,000 to Rs.1,50,000 in government and private hospitals of the country. However, the same treatment is being offered at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute for Rs10,000 (general category), Rs 15,000 (private category) and Rs 20,000 (for reimbursement category).
This form of radiation is effective on tumours of the brain, head and neck region, lung, kidney, breast, pelvic organ, among others. The surrounding vital organs unlike conventional form of radiotherapy receive negligible radiation, thereby greatly minimize the side effects of radiation.
It needs mention that the BBCI has since January 2007 started three-dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy and further raised the standard of care in the institute. Besides requiring an expensive technical infrastructure, IMRT also requires special human expertise and consumes a lot of time for planning of the treatment.
In yet another notable development, the two-year post-graduate diploma programme in Radiotherapy Technology at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute has been affiliated by the Gauhati University. This specialized teaching programme is not available anywhere else in eastern India and only four centres provide such course. The first batch of four students for the session 2006-2008 has successfully completed the course and the result was announced by the Gauhati University recently.
