Advanced Radiotherapy Arrives in Bulgaria

Cancer patients in Bulgaria have gained access to sophisticated radiotherapy treatments for the first time with the installation of new radiotherapy technology.

Queen Giovanna University Hospital, in Sofia (Bulgaria), has installed a RapidArc-equipped Clinac iX linear accelerator, developed by Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA,USA), to replace a cobalt machine installed in 1964.

Two cervical cancer patients have become the first people treated on the new equipment, which enables image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatments to be delivered in very short timescales, enabling the busy hospital to introduce additional treatments without increasing waiting lists.

"Our new machine is replacing a very old cobalt machine and we are now able to make big advances from radiotherapy treatments of the 1970s to the most modern available,” remarked Prof. Tatiana Hadjieva, MD, PhD, head of the hospital's radiotherapy department. "Until now we have had to use images from the diagnostic CT and we have planned treatments manually, without any automated treatment planning system. It has not been ideal. This is the first step in bringing Bulgaria into the modern age of cancer treatments but our effort to bring the country into line with standards elsewhere in the world continues,” said Prof. Hadjieva, who argues that modern radiotherapy is one of the most cost-effective means of treating cancer.

"Our new Varian machine is only the fourth linear accelerator in the country and by far the most modern,” added Prof. Hadjieva, who reported that 13,500 cancer patients had been treated in Bulgaria in 2010 and this was expected to grow to 14,500 in 2011. Until now, Bulgaria's population of seven million people has been served by two old linear accelerators in Plovdiv and a more modern machine at a private hospital in Sofia, in addition to a number of older cobalt machines. The hospital's expertise in radiotherapy extends to involvement in national trials into hypofractionated and accelerated radiotherapy in advanced head and neck cancers.

Vincent Ronfle, Varian's regional sales manager, said, "This achievement at Queen Giovanna Hospital is particularly remarkable because it allows for a quantum leap in treatment quality without impacting the hospital's ability to treat a very large number of patients, and this is thanks to the efficiency of the RapidArc treatment. In addition to supplying the equipment, we carried out a comprehensive education and training program for staff to ensure they felt comfortable adopting these new techniques.”

The advanced RapidArc system delivers precise image-guided IMRT up to four times faster than traditional IMRT. Studies show that faster treatments allow for greater precision, since there is less chance of patient or tumor movement during treatment delivery. Clinicians also observe that faster treatments make the procedures easier and more comfortable for patients who spend less time immobilized.

Related Links:
Queen Giovanna University Hospital
Varian Medical Systems