Implementation of a High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Program for Carcinoma of the Cervix in Senegal: A Pragmatic Model for the Developing World
- Department of Oncology, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
- Overlook Medical Center, Summit, New Jersey (United States)
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California (United States)
- Départemént de Radiothérapie, Institut Joliot-Curie, Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar (Senegal)
- GammaWest Cancer Services, Salt Lake City, Utah (United States)
West Africa has one of the highest incidence rates of carcinoma of the cervix in the world. The vast majority of women do not have access to screening or disease treatment, leading to presentation at advanced stages and to high mortality rates. Compounding this problem is the lack of radiation treatment facilities in Senegal and many other parts of the African continent. Senegal, a country of 13 million people, had a single {sup 60}Co teletherapy unit before our involvement and no brachytherapy capabilities. Radiating Hope, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide radiation therapy equipment to countries in the developing world, provided a high-dose-rate afterloading unit to the cancer center for curative cervical cancer treatment. Here we describe the implementation of high-dose-rate brachytherapy in Senegal requiring a nonstandard fractionation schedule and a novel treatment planning approach as a possible blueprint to providing this technology to other developing countries.
- OSTI ID:
- 22420329
- Journal Information:
- International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 89, Issue 3; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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