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LVPEI
adopts brachytherapy for treating eye cancer
By
A Correspondent - Hyderabad
The
L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) here is treating cancer
in the eye with a new type of radiation therapy. The procedure
known as brachytherapy, adopted for the first time in
India, involves the use of radioactive source over the
eyeball.
According
to Dr Vijay Anand P Reddy, consultant oncologist and radiotherapist,
LVPEI, this treatment is effective for cancers like retinoblastoma,
choroidal elanoma, choroidal haemangioma and metastasis.
Explaining the procedure of treatment, Dr Reddy said the
radioactive source was placed over the eyeball and sutured
in place under anaesthesia. The amount and duration of
radiation is calculated using sophisticated computer planning
systems.
The
patient is kept in isolation during the course of treatment,
lasting two to four days. He said radiation emission from
the source was measured in the operation theatre by a
radiation physicist, using a survey meter. The team attending
on the patient wears radiation measuring badges over the
chest and the wrist. These are sent to the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre, Mumbai, every month to measure radiation
exposure. The radioactive source is removed from the eyeball
surface after radiation and the patient is discharged.
The main advantage of this procedure is that the effect
of radiation on the surrounding areas of the affected
part is minimal without any damage to the healthy tissues.
Dr
Reddy said in the tele-therapy system of radiation i.e.
radiation given from a distance, the surrounding areas
were affected and lead to complications like growth reduction,
facial deformity and rarely even a second cancer. “The
objective of brachytherapy is to save the eye from removal
and improving the vision”, he said. The cost of undergoing
this treatment is Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 for the category
of patients who can afford to pay and for the poor the
hospital does not charge any amount. |
