SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
Goa’s cancer burden is rising, but its public health care system is still relying on radiation technology that be longs to another era. With nearly 1,700 new cancer cases being record ed in the State every year, Goa Medical College (GMC) continues to depend on a Cobalt-60 therapy machine introduced nearly three dec ades ago. While the machine remains capable of treating cancer, experts say it lacks the precision of modern ra diation systems and can ex pose surrounding healthy tissue to unnecessary radi ation, increasing the risk of side effects. The gap is acute at a time when radiation oncology has advanced dramatically, with Linear Accelerators (LINAC), image-guided radiation ther apy, stereotactic techniques, brachytherapy and proton therapy allowing doctors to target tumours with far great er precision. The failure to modernise the State’s principal public cancer-treatment facility has a direct human cost. Many Goan patients who require advanced radiotherapy are compelled to leave the State, adding travel, accommoda tion and other expenses to an already difficult treatment journey “Radiation therapy works by de livering high-energy radiation to destroy the DNA of cancer cells.
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It is used in the treatment of several can cers, including breast, prostate, lung, head and neck cancers and brain tu mours,” former Head of Pathology De partment, GMC, Dr R G Wiseman Pinto told O Heraldo. He said advanced radiation tech nologies are now routinely available across India and abroad, enabling more accurate targeting of tumours while limiting damage to healthy tis sue. The limitations of the old technol ogy become particularly significant when treatment involves tumours lo cated close to vital organs. Surgical oncologist Dr Sredharan M said Cobalt-60 machines can kill cancer cells but cannot match the precision offered by modern LINAC systems. “Radiation oncology has advanced significantly over the past 30 to 40 years. While legacy Cobalt machines are still capable of treating cancer cells, they lack the precision of mod ern technology.
LINAC works in coor dination with advanced software to titrate radiation doses down to deci mal places and target areas down to the millimetre. Cobalt machines can not achieve this level of precision,” he said. Consultant Radiation Oncologist Dr Sujoy Fernandes said the Cobalt-60 machine has advantages such as low maintenance and the ability to treat a wide range of malignancies. However, its broad treatment field can result in.
