Maha: Sion hospital to get radiation therapy facility at cost of Rs 60 crore

Mumbai: Aiming to bring cancer patients under one roof and provide proper treatments, a radiation therapy facility will be launched soon at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) run Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (Sion) Hospital. 

According to National Cancer Institute, radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours. At high doses, radiation therapy kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA.

Radiation therapy does not kill cancer cells right away. It takes days or weeks of treatment before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after radiation therapy ends.

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At present, Maharashtra has 116,121 cancer cases estimated in 2022. The hospital also informed that the tender for the radiation therapy project will be issued in the next couple of weeks.

Having a chemotherapy unit, the upcoming radiation therapy facility will come with a complete package for cancer patients in the city. Currently, the hospital is preparing a proposal to purchase the necessary equipment's required for the facility. 

Speaking to HT, the hospital dean, Dr Mohan Joshi said "We have earmarked the area for the radiation therapy department. We are floating tenders for the construction and buying equipment. Along with the department, we plan to have a 40-bed facility for cancer patients."

"With radiation therapy, we will bring cancer care under one roof. Cancer patients whose treatment requires radiation will not have to rush to other centres," said Dr Joshi.

"Currently, the hospital sees nearly 100 patients coming to its cancer OPD every week. Of the 100 patients, 40 to 50 will benefit once we start the radiation therapy," he added.

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital or the Sion Hospital as it is commonly known is a general municipal hospital in the Sion region of Mumbai. Starting in 1947, the hospital had just 10 beds back then. Today it has grown into a multi-specialty hospital with more than 1,400 beds.

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