Good news for cancer patients as KU hospital gets new machine

The fight against cancer has received a major boost after Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital received a Cyclotron machine to aid operations.

The machine received at the hospital’s Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre on Friday produces radioisotopes used as a tracer for cancer in patients.

The delivery of the machine was witnessed by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and the hospital’s board chair Olive Mugenda.

The radioisotopes are also used to monitor the remission and progression of cancer in patients and come with radiopharmacy equipment (hot labs) used to synthesise them to make them ready for patient administration in terms of dosage and safety.

The cyclotron makes the hospital the first public facility in East and Central Africa to have the capacity to produce consumables for domestic use and for the region.

In addition, a 256 Slice CT Scanner and 3T MRI were also delivered, installed and user training undertaken and are currently in use at the imaging department.

“Our people spend more than Sh8 billion annually seeking cancer treatment in India, South Africa and Dubai. There is a growing interest from the government and private healthcare providers, as well as the public sector in cancer treatment,” Kagwe said.

“It is expected that the number of patients seeking and receiving quality care is expected to increase over the next five years. To address this need, improved access to diagnostics and radiotherapy capabilities are required.”

The hospital is also seeking approval for the construction of the IMIC from the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in an effort to increase capacity and address the existing gaps. The licence for the operations is expected to be issued soon.

“Kenya has extremely low levels of PET/CT and SPECT/CT penetration and less than 20 radiotherapy equipment across the country. This, coupled with the limited availability of oncologists, is restricting access to cancer care for the majority of patients,” Kagwe said.

Already, the construction of the IMIC centre at the hospital is nearing completion, with construction works on the ground floor, first floor and the upper floor complete.

The first comprehensive cancer centre in the country and the region will offer early diagnosis and treatment monitoring.

It covers 635 square metres located on three floors and a bunker for the cyclotron. The centre will have accommodation facilities to be able to host up to 100 patients.

It will house the cyclotron machine, whose key function will be to produce radioisotopes (consumables) that are used to prepare the dosage injected into the patient for early diagnosis of cancer through the PET/CT machine.

Currently, it costs roughly Sh75,000 for a PET scan in the private sector.

Data from the ministry shows that about 50,000 new cases of cancers are registered in the country annually, 70 per cent end up succumbing to the disease.

That means 35,000 lives are lost every year, mostly associated with lifestyle, genetic factors, exposure to chemicals in the environment and hazardous agricultural practices.

According to Kagwe, a number of deaths are a result of infrastructural and resource limitation in the healthcare sector.

As a result, a majority perish because their cancers are diagnosed when they are at advanced stages, hence too late for curative treatment.

“Today, patients are being diagnosed with stage 3 and 4 cancers because of inadequate diagnostic capacity for early detection. The centre will have clinical, financial, training, research, socio-economic and environmental impact on Kenyans.”

The impact is to be witnessed in the areas of early diagnosis and response to treatment, accuracy in diagnosis, improved survivorship, reduction in waiting time, cost of treatment and a significant reduction in cancer-related deaths.