History has been made at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) following the commissioning of the facility’s CyberKnife radiotherapy services on Wednesday.
Following the launch of the CyberKnife System, the first and only fully robotic radiotherapy device for cancer treatment last May, the first patient has undergone treatment today, in a trailblazing move geared at expanding access to advanced Cancer care in Kenya.
Through KUTRRH, Kenya became the first country in sub-Sahara Africa to acquire the CyberKnife, making it possible for local patients to obtain access to the extremely precise stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatments the system delivers.
Speaking after witnessing the first patient treatment, KUTRRH Chairperson Prof Olive Mugenda said the journey to acquire the CyberKnife started in 2022 as part of the Level Six facility’s corporate vision to create a Centre of Excellence in oncology by providing end-to-end diagnosis and treatment options for cancer patients.
On the diagnostic side, the hospital acquired the much-needed Positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) and Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT) services to complement existing linear particle accelerator (LINAC) and brachytherapy machines for treating cancerous tumours.
“The commissioning of the CyberKnife system today is a major milestone for oncology management in Kenya. As part of the strategic plan, for the last few years, we have harboured the need to move into high precision treatment, and thanks to the Government’s support, KUTRRH finally managed to acquire the CyberKnife machine, which is a bold but best decision for Kenya in the effort to decrease outbound medical tourism and increase inbound medical tourism,” Prof Mugenda said.
The commencement of CyberKnife treatment services comes after an intense and much-awaited completion of the commissioning process after the launch of the CyberKnife Centre by His Excellency President William Ruto in May 2022.
The commissioning has been a tedious and delicate process jointly undertaken by medical physicists from Accuray, the equipment manufacturer, and KUTRRH Medical Physicists, Doctors, Radiotherapists, and Oncologists.
Added Prof Mugenda: “This process, which took five months after the launch by the President, included a dry run and the collection of very delicate data to ensure that the machine processes were accurate and ready to deliver precise and successful treatment to our patients. The commencement of the treatment also marks a key milestone for Kenya, the region and Africa in general. The services are now available without travelling outside Kenya for Kenyans or outside Africa for the regional patients.”
The experts who were involved in today’s CyberKnife treatment included:
- Abdil Jabbari -Application specialist and Medical physicist from Accurray USA.
- Ruth Wambui – A radiation Therapist and the KUTRRH CyberKnife Centre Manager with many years of experience with CyberKnife operations in the UK.
- Peter Loreh– A medical physicist and Radiotherapy Head of Department at KUTRRH. One of the few trained Medical physicists in the country with experience in Stereotactic Radio Surgery.
- Dr Tracy Irura– A trained Radiation Oncologist at KUTRRH and the lead oncologist in CyberKnife.
- Dr. Shridhar -A radiation oncologist at HCG INDIA with many years’ experience in CyberKnife and has delivered over 4000 CyberKnife treatments.
The patients set to undergo the CyberKnife system treatment regimen have been carefully selected to ensure that they meet the specified criteria by the experts.
They have been well briefed about the treatment and what to expect and are psychologically ready for this unique precision treatment.
KUTRRH Board and Management are grateful to the Government for availing the funds to acquire this first-of-its-kind equipment, which gives the patient the best chance of overcoming the disease challenge.
