Ceylinco Cancer Centre’s Chief Radiation Therapist undergoes training in Switzerland
Mr Thilak De Silva, the Chief Radiation Therapist at Ceylinco Cancer Services Limited (CHSL) recently visited Switzerland for a training programme hosted by Varian Medical Systems International AG, a global leader in Radiation Oncology.
He is the second member of the staff of CHSL’s Radiation Treatment Centre to undergo training in Switzerland in the past two months, the Company said.
The five-day training course is linked to the acquisition of a new hi-precision Clinac iX linear accelerator for CHSL’s Radiation Treatment Centre from Varian Medical Systems.
The course titled ‘Oncology Information System Clinical Implementation’ covered a variety of topics ranging from an in-depth introduction to the system architecture to using the equipment in coordination with ARIA, a comprehensive information and image management solutions operating system that allows users to oversee all aspects of Oncology.
This programme was conducted with the aim of introducing the new Oncology Information System and to provide training on how to setup the system prior to on-site training.
Mr Thilak De Silva has been practicing in the field of Radiation Therapy for 28 years in both the private and public sector of Sri Lanka. He holds a Diploma in Radiography from the School of Radiography in Colombo, and specialised in Radiation Therapy, locally. He possesses extensive international experience too, having worked at the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) in India, USA and Singapore.
With more than 7,400 linear accelerators installed around the world, of which nearly 200 are operating in India, Varian Medical Systems has extensive global and regional experience in radiation oncology. The Varian Clinac iX linear accelerator houses a range of capabilities that not only streamline the treatment process, but also expand possibilities for clinics.
The most experienced and affordable private cancer treatment centre in the country, CHSL has successfully administered radiation therapy to over 5,000 patients over the past decade. The treatment facilities offered by the Company are estimated to generate a saving of US$ 500,000 in foreign exchange per year from its two radiation treatment centres — the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre and the Ceylinco TomoTherapy Centre. Ceylinco Cancer Services also owns and operates the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care.
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Ceylinco Cancer care Centre’s Medical Physicist receives training in Switzerland
Ceylinco Cancer care Services Limited (CHSL) recently sent Mr Jayantha Gunaratne, a medical physicist at its Radiation Treatment Centre, for a training programme in Switzerland, arranged by Varian Medical Systems International AG, a global leader in Radiation Oncology.
Mr Gunaratne’s training follows the commissioning in December last year of a new hi-precision Clinac® iX linear accelerator to treat cancer patients at CHSL’s the Radiation Treatment Centre. The new linear accelerator was supplied by Varian Medical Systems.
Titled ‘Varian Advanced Techniques Physics IMRT /RapidArc,’ the training programme was conducted over four days and included classroom lectures and on-site training at the Municipal Hospital Triemli, Switzerland. The course was designed to provide training for medical physicists responsible for the initial system commissioning and configuration of Varian’s Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques.
The aim of this course was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the treatment technique process, quality assurance tasks and treatment planning strategies, so that attendees will be able to implement IMRT/RapidArc® and Portal Dosimetry in their clinical routines, the Company said.
“We have invested in state-of-the-art equipment for radiation therapy to enable Sri Lankans to receive the most advanced treatments available, in their own country,” CHSL Chairman Mr R. Renganathan said. “As the private sector’s Centre of Excellence in radiation treatment we also require our physicists and radiation therapists to undergo world class training that can enable them to maximise the benefits of the equipment.”
Mr Jayantha Gunaratne has been a medical physicist at CHSL for the past 11 years. He previously worked as a Scientific Officer at the Atomic Energy Authority of Sri Lanka, for a decade. Mr Gunaratne holds a B.Sc. (Special) Degree in Physics (2nd Class, Upper division) from the University of Peradeniya, and a M.Sc. in Medical Physics from the Post Graduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Radiation Protection from the National University of Malaysia.
With more than 7,400 linear accelerators installed around the world, of which nearly 200 are operating in India, Varian Medical Systems has extensive global and regional experience in radiation oncology. The Varian Clinac iX linear accelerator houses a range of capabilities that not only streamline the treatment process, but also expand possibilities for clinics.
The most experienced and affordable private cancer treatment centre in the country, CHSL has successfully administered radiation therapy to over 5,000 patients over the past decade. The treatment facilities offered by the Company are estimated to generate a saving of US$ 500,000 in foreign exchange per year. Besides its two radiation treatment units — the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre and the Ceylinco Tomo Therapy Centre, Ceylinco Cancer care Services owns and operates the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care.
Read moreCeylinco Cancer care offers discounts on cancer treatment to 2.7 million people
Offers up to 25% off for NITF's 'Agrahara' policyholders and their dependents
Ceylinco Cancer care Services Limited (CHSL) has announced that public servants holding 'Agrahara' insurance policies of the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) and their dependents are eligible for discounts of up to 25% on cancer treatments offered by the Company.
Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CHSL and NITF, 'Agrahara' policyholders and family members will be offered a 25 per cent discount on room charges, a 20 per cent discount on hospital charges for OPD chemotherapy, and 5 per cent discounts on all radiation 
treatments, lab tests and radiological investigations.
These discounts are exclusively applicable to NIT F 'Agrahara' policyholders who opt to go for radiation treatment from CHSL's Linear Accelerator or Tomotherapy unit, as well as for chemotherapy, radioactive iodine treatment and brachytherapy, the Company said.
The 'Agrahara' Insurance scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Public Administration, under the National Insurance Trust Fund. The scheme covers close to 900,000 government employees, semigovernment employees and pensioners who retired after 2016. Taking the family members and dependants of its policyholders into account, it benefits more than 2.7 million people in all. The Gold and Silver packages of 'Agrahara' cover cancer treatment costs of up to Rs 600,000/- and Rs 400,000/respectively.
CHSL offers five types of cancer treatment at its facilities in Colombo. One advanced form of radiation therapy is delivered through the Company's newly-acquired linear accelerator, which is equipped for highly precise Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). Another form of treatment is TomoTherapy which combines IMRT with the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) scanning technology, all in one machine. CHSL is the only company that offers TomoTherapy in Sri Lanka. Other treatments are Brachytherapy, which involves placing a protected source of high energy radiation directly within the tumor; Chemotherapy, where chemical substances are used to treat the disease and Radioactive Iodine Treatment for hyperthyroidism. It is delivered in a single dose and has minimal or no side effects.
CHSL's new Clinac i)( linear accelerator delivers significant improvements in precision and reduced treatment times, enabling its Radiation Treatment Centre to efficiently deliver wide-ranging radiation therapy treatments including 3D Conformal Radiotherapy, Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and MV based Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT).
The most experienced and affordable private cancer treatment centre in the country, CHSL has successfully administered radiation therapy to over 5,000 patients over the past decade. The treatment facilities offered by the Company are estimated to generate a saving of US$ 500,000 in foreign exchange per year. Besides its two radiation treatment units — the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre and the Ceylinco TomoTherapy Centre, Ceylinco Cancer care Services owns and operates the Ceylinco Diabetes
Centre, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care.
Read moreCeylinco Cancer care doubles capacity to administer Radioactive Iodine treatment
Ceylinco Cancer care Services Limited (CHSL), which operates two of the most advanced radiation therapy centres in the country, has doubled its capacity to administer Radioactive Iodine (RAI) treatment to patients afflicted with thyroid cancer and thyrotoxicosis, a condition caused by an excess of thyroid hormone in the body.
Following the construction of a new delay tank system that collects waste water, the facility is now able to offer Radioactive Iodine treatments on Wednesdays and Saturdays, treating up to eight patients a week, from the four patients it could treat per week previously.
RAI treatment, the most effective and curative treatment for thyroid cancer is administered by releasing an iodine electron, or beta particle, which creates its therapeutic action. The treatment is based on the fact that the thyroid actively accumulates iodine, which it then uses to produce thyroid hormones required for normal bodily functions.
Given as a capsule or dissolved in water, the RAI is absorbed quickly by the stomach and intestines. It is then carried in the bloodstream to the thyroid and taken up by the gland. Thereafter the RAI disrupts the function of some of the thyroid cells - the more radioactive iodine, the more cells that cease to function. This results in excessive amounts of thyroid hormones ceasing to be produced and the symptoms of hyperthyroidism beginning to disappear.
Notably, the iodine capsules used at the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre are of high European quality.
The RAI treatments are administered in doses of 30 millicurie (mCi), 100mCi, 150mCi and 200mCi for thyroid cancer, and in doses of 10mCi, 15mCi, 20mCi and 25mCi for thyrotoxicosis.
Ceylinco Cancer care Centre has administered RAI treatment to more than 2,250 patients since 2007. The Centre has four luxury rooms equipped with AC, Cable TV, and attached bathrooms exclusively for iodine treatment patients who are required to stay overnight at the facility for three days. These rooms adhere to international standards and are on par with similar facilities in Singapore.
For over a decade, CHSL, a subsidiary of Ceylinco Life, has been an affordable, private cancer treatment centre in the country, and has successfully administered radiation therapy to over 5,000 patients. Besides two radiation treatment units – the Ceylinco Radiation Treatment Centre and the Ceylinco TomoTherapy Centre, Ceylinco Cancer care Services owns and operates the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care.
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Ceylinco Cancer care’s TomoTherapy Centre treats 50 patients in five months
Ceylinco Cancer Services Ltd, the pioneer of cutting-edge technology in cancer treatment in Sri Lanka’s private Cancer care sector, has announced that its new TomoTherapy Centre has treated 50 patients since its opening in October last year.
Among the patients treated at the TomoTherapy Centre were six Maldivian nationals, demonstrating the potential for attracting patients from countries in the region for advanced radiation treatment, the Centre said.
The TomoTherapy Centre is the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka and offers a new dimension in high precision image - guided radiation therapy for the treatment of many forms of cancer.
“The TomoTherapy Centre is performing above even our own expectations,” CHSL Chairman R. Renganathan said. “While our principal objective was to offer Sri Lankans the latest technology in radiation treatment in their own country, it is clear that the services of the Centre will also benefit people in neighbouring countries.”
TomoTherapy is an integrated, advanced form of 3-dimentional image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Because a patient’s anatomy can change from day-to-day, image guided radiation therapy helps doctors make immediate adjustments to allow for tumor movement or shrinkage, weight loss and other changes.
The TomoTherapy system allows clinicians to see what they plan to treat immediately prior to beginning each treatment fraction and ensures that the tumor will not be under-dosed, and that radiation exposure to surrounding tissue will be minimised.
The TomoTherapy Centre is the second radiation oncology unit set up by Ceylinco Cancer Services Ltd. (CHSL). It is equipped with the latest TomoHDTM treatment system from Accuracy Inc. (USA), the global pioneer in the field of TomoTherapy. It operates alongside CHSL’s first radiation treatment unit, opened in September 2007 with Sri Lanka’s first Linear Accelerator (Linac).
Both radiation treatment facilities are located in close proximity, at Park Street, Colombo 2; the TomoTherapy Centre at No 70, and the Linear Accelerator unit at No 60.
Besides the two radiation treatment units, Ceylinco Cancer Services owns and operates the Ceylinco Cancer Centre and the Ceylinco Diabetes Centre, also at Park Street, Colombo 2, offering comprehensive screening, diagnostic services and medical care. In its first five years of operation, the Ceylinco Cancer Centre dispensed more than 10,000 cancer treatments encompassing linear accelerator treatments, brachytherapy, radioactive iodine treatments and chemotherapy.
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