April 5th, 2017 – Xstrahl is pleased to announce the supply of the first superficial radiotherapy system – Xstrahl 200 to Havana, Cuba. The equipment was installed in early 2016 and has now been successfully treating Cuban cancer patients for the last 12 months.
Xstrahl and Medicuba, the Cuban medical equipment import company, are confident that this will be the first of many X-ray therapy systems that will be installed on the island where the incidence of skin cancer is of epidemic proportions. Xstrahl’s President, Martin Robinson commented, “After many years of negotiation and visits to Cuba, it was a great opportunity to extend radiation oncology to the people of Cuba where Linear Accelerators are under ever increasing demand for cancer treatment.”
The equipment was donated to the Department of Radiotherapy of the National Institute of Oncology and Radiotherapy (DR-INOR) in the framework of a technical cooperation project funded by International Atomic Energy Agency which strives for establishing and implementing radiotherapy programmes in its Member States.
For over 7 years, Xstrahl has been working with MediCuba and its dedicated team of colleagues to bring superficial skin therapy to the Cuban people who suffer from an increasing number of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMCS). According to the 2014 and 2015 Cuba Annual Health Reports, the incidence of skin cancer has increased from 8,804 to 9,785 per 100,000 people from 2011 to 2012. The annual mortality rate per 100,000 people from non-melanoma skin cancer has increased by 58.2% since 1990, an average of 2.5% a year.
The Xstrahl 200 system was successfully commissioned demonstrating excellent reproducibility, linearity and field size influence assessed for 120kV beam quality. It was confirmed that Xstrahl 200 is able to treat shallow and deep lying lesions bringing better cosmesis, as it provides 8 discrete beam qualities, from 40 to 200 kV.
With shorter treatment times due to the ease of set up and planning the Xstrahl 200 system will make a significant difference to the operation of the Radiotherapy department becoming an effective and complementary addition to high energy linear accelerators and starting a new era in Cuba radiation oncology.
For over 30 years Xstrahl has been leading the development of superficial therapies. Responding to very real clinical need and drawing on the knowledge and expertise of healthcare professionals, we are committed to providing innovative radiotherapy solutions that deliver positive patients outcomes.
