Head of the Department

The Department of Radiation Oncology of Malabar Cancer Centre is equipped with the latest technological advances in the field of Radiation Oncology so as to provide the patients with the comprehensive cancer care meeting international standards. The Departments of Radiation Oncology are committed to achieving excellence in the treatment of cancer. Radiation Oncology saw the inauguration of the dual energy linear accelerator towards the end of the year 2011. March 2012 saw the first patient being treated with Rapidarc Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy. Over the next three months significant experience was gained in Rapidarc IMRT planning and the technique of Rapidarc Simultaneous Integrated Boost was fine tuned for head neck cancers.

Radiotherapy plays a very important role in curing early stage cancer and in relieving symptoms and possibly prolonging life for patients with advanced cancers. Our efforts in the department have always been to offer optimal radiotherapy and comprehensive patient care.

To update recent advances in radiation oncology and to apply the same in our patients as much as possible.            

• To provide state of the art equipments for treating patients.
• To train oncologists, physicists and technicians regarding recent developments.

•  State of art Linear accelerator with IMRT , IGRT, SBRT, SRT (Varian, Electa) and Tele-cobalt Machine.
•  CT Simulator and Conventional simulator.
•  Nucletron brachy therapy facility
•  Mould room
•  Trained radiation oncologists, trained medical physicists  and radiotherapy technologists

1. Linear Accelerator (Varian Clinac iX): This dual energy high end Linear Accelerator is a complete and integrated platform for delivering state of the art Radiation Therapy treatments e.g. 3DCRT/IMRT/RapidArc/IGRT/SBRT/SRS. The system is capable of treatment with 2 Photon Beam Energies and 6 Electron Energies. It is equipped with On Board Imaging System capable of KV Xrays, Online Fluroscopy and Cone Beam CT images for online treatment verification and adaptive radiotherapy. The machine treats about 65 - 70 patients daily with 65 - 70% being treated with RapidArc IMRT. This machine has successfully treated over 700 patients since its commissioning in November 2011.
2. Linear Accelerator (Electa Versa HD): Second Linear Accelerator, Versa HD was installed, commissioned and treatment was started from 15/05/2016 onward. Versa HD machine has multiple beam energies [ (Xrays 6,10,15 MV), (Electrons 4,6,8,10,12,15 MeV)]. Along with VERSA HD, Octavius 4D Phantom, Arc Check, Film Scanner, Microdiamond detector, Monacco Treatment Planning System was acquired.
3. Nucletron 16 Channel HDR Brachytherapy: The system is capable of delivering brachytherapy treatment to various sites. The Centre practices Intracavitary, Interestitial, Intraluminal and Surface Mould Brachytherapy. The centre is in the process of acquiring a MUPIT applicator for interestitial brachytherapy in pelvic malignancies as well as Fletcher Suite CT/MRI compatible applicator. In addition the treatment planning system is being upgraded to the latest ONCENTRA brachytherapy treatment planning. A dedicated Brachytherapy OT is situated beside the brachytherapy vault.
4. Tele Cobalt 60: The workhorse of the treatment machine treats about 40 - 50 patients per day. The machine is intergrated with the CMS XiO treatment planning system. Compensator based treatment is offered for all radically treated head and neck cancer patients.
5. Treatment Planning System: The department has the latest ARIA Oncology Information System along with the ECLIPSE treatment planning system. In addition it has the ADVANTAGE Sim, PLATO and CMS XiO treatment planning systems. The PLATO treatment planning system is being upgraded to the latest ONCENTRA BRACHY treatment planning system.
6. CT Simulator: The department is in the process of acquiring the latest 16 slice CT Simulator capable of 4D image acquisition. The CT simulator will be exclusively available for the department of radiation oncology and will reduce the waiting list for the advanced treatment substantially. The present CT simulation is being performed on the 4 slice GE CT machine.
7. Conventional Simulator: The department has a Conventional Simulix Simulator in which all patients are simulated. The images can be fluroscopically transferred to the treatment planning systems.
8. Mould Room: The department has a well-equipped mould room with facility to make custom thermoplastic immobilization masks, vaccum cushions, compensators, Electron cut outs etc.