The Cancer Institute will receive a second state-of-the-art linear accelerator used in radiotherapy. The first accelerator was installed earlier this year in the Department of Radiology.

Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco says such a machine costs around 4 million euros. “The existing machine was purchased in 2019 by the Sandu Government, and at the beginning of 2022 we installed it. However, it is insufficient because many patients are waiting for treatment. In record time, we identified the amount needed to purchase and bring another machine of this kind”, said the minister.

Dr. Ludmila Eftodiev, head of the Department of Radiology, says that patients tolerate the treatment more easily, and post-radiation reactions are minimal.

Image-guided radiotherapy enables patient positioning with millimeter-scale precision. “This helps us deliver a much higher dose of treatment into the tumor and protect adjacent healthy tissue. Thus, we can treat even very small tumors”, said Dr. Octavian Cordun, quoted in a press release of the Ministry of Health.

Every day, about 70 patients are given radiotherapy sessions. Irradiation of the tumor takes 3-5 minutes and another few minutes are required for the exact positioning of the patient so that the beam of ionizing radiation is aimed at the diseased tissue and does not affect healthy tissue.