Guatemala Treatment Center Becomes First in Latin America to Introduce Advanced Radiotherapy Cancer Treatments

Cancer patients in Guatemala and across Central America now have access to sophisticated radiotherapy treatments, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Hope International Centro de Radioterapia (Guatemala City, Guatemala) has become the first treatment center in Latin America to install the fast new treatment capability from Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA) IMRT with RapidArc technology. With RapidArc, Hope International Centro de Radioterapia, a new privately funded clinic, can provide more advanced care to a greater number of patients than would be possible with conventional technology. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for delivering the full spectrum of image-guided cancer treatments.

"We are able to offer IMRT, which targets cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues and organs,” stated Luis A. Linares, M.D., medical director. "With RapidArc, we have the potential to further enhance our precision by completing many of these treatments more quickly, which can reduce the extent of patient motion during treatment. All treatments will be delivered using a high resolution multileaf collimator to shape the treatment beam so that it matches the shape and size of the tumor from every angle.”

The new treatment technology was unveiled on September 10, 2009, at an inauguration attended by many local dignitaries, including Alvaro Arzú, mayor of Guatemala City; cabinet-level government officials; medical specialists from across the region; and prominent leaders from the private sector.

RapidArc delivers a precise and efficient treatment in single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient and makes it possible to deliver image-guided IMRT two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT.

"This is an important facility for this part of Central America,” said James Miles, Varian's director of operations for Latin American and the Caribbean. "We commend Dr. Linares and his team for taking the initiative to provide state-of-the-art cancer care for the people of Guatemala and surrounding region.”

Varian Medical Systems is a world-leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers, and medical oncology practices.

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