Cancer centre treats 4,000 patients in a year

Cancer centre treats 4,000 patients in a year

MUSCAT: The Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Centre received and treated as many as 4,000 patients during the first year since its inception.

The centre received 23,956 patients and offered integrated medical consultancy to patients in its outpatient clinics at the hands of nationals who master international expertise in treating cancer tumours.

Since its opening in July 2021 to June 2022, the centre has provided 3,619 radio sessions, provided 4,757 chemical treatment doses and conducted 262 surgical operations.

The units of the centres were operated in a gradual manner to ensure the safety of patients, harmonise the medical, laboratory, pharmaceutical and radiological electronic systems and synchronise them with the central scheme of services.

Since the start of operations at the centre till the end of June 2022, the visits to centre’s departments were as follows: 37.8 per cent visits to the breast cancer programme, 26 per cent to the alimentary system programme, 16 per cent to the head, neck and chest programme, 7 per cent to the urinary tract programme, 6.8 per cent as rare tumour cases, 3.7 per cent as gynaecological tumour cases and 37 as instances of services at palliative care programme.

On the preventive side, the centre’s genome section offered genetic counselling services to 468 patients (September 2021 to June 2022). The counsellor briefs the patients about the results of diagnosis, which is conducted through the use of modern devices that register genome count and nuclear serialisation to determine hereditary modifications that cause cancer.

In radiotherapy, the centre has launched a number of advanced services for the treatment of cancer patients, including treatment with the Cyberknife S7 radiosurgery device, the first of its kind in the region, which was used to treat a number of patients with small cancers in brain and thoracic cage, and fifth nerve pain. Partial Breast Irradiation and Hypo-SIB services, which contribute to shortening the treatment period.

and reducing treatment costs, and is looking forward to introduce a number of advanced technologies to treat cancer patients, including treatment by planting radioactive seeds, at the hands of national and international expertise. In the treatment of oncology, the centre has attracted staff from well-known international hospitals.

The surgical department and the advanced endoscopy unit were also equipped with the latest equipment, to enable the surgical team to perform complex, high-precision operations, including endoscopic operations. The surgical team performed a complete esophageal resection using endoscopic surgery for the first time in Oman. The advanced endoscopy unit launched the double balloon endoscopy of small intestine, which is one of the most important ones for examining and performing non-surgical interventions for small intestine, and helps diagnose and treat intestinal bleeding, small intestine tumors, ulcers of the small intestine and sclerosis of the lining of the small intestine.

In the diagnostic field, the Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Department conducted 8,571 diagnostic examinations during the year. The Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Department was equipped with the latest advanced diagnostic imaging devices, including the Siemens Biograph Vision 600 PET CT digital imaging device, the latest of its kind in the region.

Regarding early diagnosis programmes, the one-stop clinic for diagnosing prostate cancer began receiving patients, to contribute to the accurate and early diagnosis of suspected cases and to ensure the speedy start of the treatment programme for the injured, in addition to activating the one-stop clinic for early detection of breast cancer.

The centre also attached great importance to medical research, as it provides innovative solutions for cancer treatment and a more accurate understanding of the disease and its causes. Finding qualitative research and employing the results of this research in preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In addition to the presence of the Clinical Research Unit, which is the first of its kind in the country and is concerned with conducting clinical trials of various treatments for cancer patients, which aims to improve the medical care provided to patients.

Since October 2021, the research laboratory has started for the first time in the country conducting a comprehensive genetic analysis of tumour tissue, which is based on identifying the patient’s genetic mutations that cause the growth of cancer cells and determining the most appropriate treatment for the case in a record period of time, and at a lower financial cost instead of sending samples abroad. — ONA