In order to exchange knowledge and experience among the Vietnamese Medical Community on radiotherapy in cancer treatment, FV Hospital has co-operated with Elekta Company to hold a seminar on “Recent Advancements of Radiotherapy in Cancer Treatment”. This event will take place at 9:00am on October 12th, 2019 at the Sheraton Hotel (88 Dong Khoi, District 1, HCMC), with the participation of international speakers, all being either associate professors, oncologists or radiologists. The seminar attracts more than 150 attending guests of doctors and radiation therapy technicians from Vietnam and Cambodia.

In recent years, the cancer rate in Vietnam has seen a growing trend. As reported by the International Cancer Research Agency, in 2018, the country had approximately 165,000 new cancer cases, nearly 115,000 deaths, and recorded more than 300,000 people living with the disease. However, medical science and technology have also achieved many advancements in the treatment of cancer. Thanks to the relentless development of science, many effective treatment solutions have been made available to help patients not only prolong their life, but also improve their quality of life during and after treatment. What’s more, some cancers have been confirmed to be able to be controlled if they are detected early and treated in a proper method.

The medical conference on “Recent Advancements of Radiotherapy in Cancer Treatment”, held by FV Hospital and Elekta Company, will share with the Vietnamese medical community the latest knowledge and experience of cancer treatment by radiotherapy. The seminar will have three international speakers in the field of cancer treatment of radiation therapy. They include, firstly, Assoc Prof. Noel Aherne, an Australian radiation oncologist and cancer researcher at MNC Cancer Institute, who will present a report on radiotherapy surgery in the development of lung cancer and the low metastases, performance and results. Secondly, Dr Sridhar PS, a senior consultant in radiation oncology, Head of CyberKnife Department and Head of Clinical Services Department at HCG (India), whose focus will be on the advancements in radiation therapy. Finally, the third speaker, is Basma M’Barek from France, Head of Hy Vong Cancer Care Centre, FV Hospital, who will present a report on radiation therapy treating lung cancer by the VMAT technique.

In today’s fight against cancer, radiation therapy is considered the most modern and increasingly improved method. It benefits from high accuracy to provide optimum therapeutic effects and limit side effects to patients, especially using the radiotherapy technique VMAT dose, developed by Elekta. This technique has been invested in by a number of oncology specialized hospitals in Vietnam, including FV Hospital’s Hy Vong Cancer Care Centre.

VMAT is a radiotherapy technique that transforms the digital dose in the form of a single supply and multi-supply, combined with the CT 4D imaging technique to accurately locate the shape and size of the tumour. This helps calculate the optimal radiation dose for radiation therapy to destroy the tumour without damaging surrounding healthy tissues, thus minimizing side effects in patients. Elekta Infinity has a 160-card tuner, which is a modern radiotherapy system that helps physicians and engineers to deploy radiotherapy techniques, seen in numerous developed countries across the world. These include; radiation therapy guide image, radiation therapy for the volume variable, cerebral tumour surgery, radiotherapy, and treating a full-body cell tumour, such as lung and prostate, through a combination with the active breathing rate synchronization technique. The accuracy of the VMAT technique is almost absolute, it is therefore possible to inspect the tumour position accurately for radiotherapy as each radioactivity, using the tomography system, is immediately on the image guidance system. The dose on the healthy tissue, such as parotid gland, greatly decreases compared to previous techniques and saves radiation time by up to 50% while doubling the therapeutic effects.

According to Dr Basma M’Barek, many patients with pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer have been treated by the VMAT technology at Hy Vong Cancer Care Centre, FV Hospital. They have achieved optimal treatment efficiency while still talking and eating normally after the course of their treatment, ensuring their quality of life. Similarly, positive results have been seen with patients who have lung cancer or breast cancer when using the VMAT technique in combination with CT 4D and ABC machine. Such a method helps to indicate the movement of the tumour even when the patient exhales when breathing, and this precise exposure of the tumour ensures it is eliminated without any healthy tissue being damaged.

Highlight pictures at the seminar:

Associate Prof. Noel J Aherne – Radiation Oncologist,

Cancer researcher at the MNC Cancer Institute 

Dr Basma MBarek – Head of Hy vong Cancer Care Centre at FV Hospital 

Dr Srihad PS – Senior Consultant at Radiation Oncology, Head of CyberKnife Department, Head of Clinical Services at International at HCG 

The seminar attracts more than 170 guests of doctors and radiation therapy technicians from Vietnam and Cambodia 

Discussion session of the speakers at the seminar