Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has introduced the intensity-modulated radiation therapy, IMRT a new advanced and efficient method for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Administered by the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre of the hospital, the new therapy will augment the existing three curative treatments radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy and also improve Ghana’s capacity for treating cancers and tumors.
Head of the center, Dr. Joel Yarney, described the IMRT as an advanced mode of high precision radiotherapy that uses a computer-controlled linear accelerator to deliver precise radiation to a tumor or specific areas with a tumor.
Dr. Yarney said with the installation of the IMRT, the center has become the only place in the country with the capacity to treat prostate cancer.
He said the new therapy reduces the side effects to the patient, as it allows for the radiation dose to conform more precisely to the 3-D dimensional shape of a tumor by intensity of the radiation beam in multiple volumes.
