The Third University Hospital in South East Asia Migrates to 3D Brachytherapy

March 24 2009  |  News Article  

The Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok/Thailand Treats Their First Gynecologic Patient 

Singapore, 12th February 2009 – Nucletron, the world leader in brachytherapy, announced today that the third major University Hospital in Asia has migrated their brachytherapy program from basic 2D treatment planning to advanced 3D treatment planning, using the latest brachytherapy solutions from Nucletron.

The Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok/Thailand treated their first gynecologic patient last week, using their newly acquired microSelectron® Digital remote afterloader, Oncentra® Brachy 3D brachytherapy treatment planning solution, and a range of Nucletron’s CT-MR GYN applicators. Nucletron helped the hospital to perform the treatment planning using MRI information fused into CT images.

“It is an exciting experience to have MRI assisted brachytherapy with the latest advanced 3 D treatment planning for our patients” says Dr. Chonlakiet, Radiation Therapist at the Chulalongkorn Hospital.

This makes the Chulalongkorn Hospital the third University Hospital that has introduced Nucletron’s advanced treatment solutions for patients in Asia. Last year, the National University Hospital in Singapore also migrated their brachytherapy program from 2D treatment planning to 3D treatment planning, allowing them to assess the dose delivered to the target and the critical organs more accurately.

Additionally, the ChiangMai University Hospital in Northern Thailand introduced 3D MRI image-guided treatment planning for brachytherapy. The incidence rate of Cervical Cancer in Northern Thailand is very high and many patients are diagnosed with this common gynecologic cancer in an advanced stage.

“Now, brachytherapy will step to the new era with 3D-based planning and I am glad to move forward with other hospitals”, says Dr. Ekasit, Chief Radiotherapist for the CMU brachytherapy program.

Dr. Somsak, Head of Physics at CMU adds: “It is recognized that image-based technology improves the efficiency of radiotherapy. In close cooperation with Nucletron we were able to make the transition from 2D to 3D brachytherapy. With the new instruments and 3D technology, we can improve the brachytherapy treatment planning and delivery to our patients.

Dr. Ekasit has spent several weeks training at the University Hospital of Vienna, which was one of the founding hospitals in Europe developing the concept of 3D Image Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy for gynecologic tumors. The pioneering work done in hospitals in Austria, Belgium and France will now gradually be adapted in a growing number of hospitals in Asia Pacific.

“Adoption of current European techniques will help in getting Asian hospitals up and running as quickly as possible” says Ernest Wu, Vice President of Nucletron Asia Pacific. “However, patient load, workflow, and infrastructure are different in Asia. Local solutions will have to be integrated to ensure this new technology is suitable for hospitals in Asia Pacific. The potential clinical benefit of 3D GYN planning and treatment over the conventional 2D approach makes it attractive for us to help hospitals on the migration.”

Nucletron Asia Pacific will assist these hospitals that have incorporated this program, and facilitate the development of new workflows that allow other Asian hospitals to migrate to advanced 3D conformal brachytherapy.