Relief for cancer patients as Cyberknife arrives in Kenya

Cancer patients in the country can breathe a sigh of relief following the arrival of Cyberknife, a new non-intrusive cancer treatment machine.

The machine can be used for the treatment of brain, head, neck, lung, breast, spinal, liver, pancreas and prostate cancers.

The Cyberknife arrived in the country on Thursday and was received by Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital board chairperson Olive Mugenda.

"On booking of cyberknife services, this has already commenced and we have a list of 34 patients waiting as of today,” she said.

The installation process is expected to take about 60 days given the machine's advanced technology.

In view of this, Mugenda said commissioning of the equipment is expected on December 15 when treatment of first patient is expected to commence.

"There have been more inquiries about the service and urgent ones have had to seek the service elsewhere. To address this, we look forward to having a capacity for 20 patients per day,” Mugenda said.

Kenya is the second country in Africa to acquire the machine after Egypt meaning patients will no longer need to travel abroad to seek its services.

This will save families hefty costs and provide patients with ease of access to family support during their treatment period.

The government in April allocated Sh300 million for the procurement of the radiotherapy equipment.

The machine will go a long way in treating complicated and advanced cases of cancer.

The technology conducts non-invasive treatment for cancerous and non-cancerous tumours.

Its unique robotic design keeps the radiation on target even while the tumour moves and can be used as an alternative to surgery or for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumours.

The machine verifies the exact tumour position then adjusts the robot to precisely target the tumour.

A team of medical practitioners will be travelling for application training to improve their capacity on how to handle the Cyberknife.

Meanwhile, a team of specialists from the manufacturer (Accuray Inc) is on site providing training and support for operationalisation.

The Ministry of Health said a number of cancer-related deaths in the country are as a result of infrastructural and resource limitations.

Many perish because their cancers are diagnosed too late.

Health data show cancer is the third leading cause of death in Kenya after infectious and cardiovascular diseases.