Kathmandu, August 27:

The Om Hospital and Research Centre is set to start Brachytherapy service — an advanced cancer treatment through internal radiation.

Among two types of radio therapies needed for cancer patients, Brachy-therapy is more efficient. Unlike external beam radio therapy where external beams are directed at the tumour from outside the body, in Brachytherapy, radio active sources are placed near the tumour itself, giving a high radiation dose to the tumour, while reducing the radiation exposure in the surrounding healthy tissues.

This treatment is important because physicians can use a higher total dose of radiation to treat smaller areas and in shorter time. It makes the cancer treatment more effective, said Dr Gisup Nikha Prasiko, consultant radiation oncologist at the hospital. A patient of cervical cancer needs Brachytherapy for three times that costs about Rs 30,000, said Prasiko. Bharatpur Cancer Hospital is the only place in the country where Brachytherapy service is available. Hari Kishor Shrestha, managing director of the Om Hospital, said two patients could get the therapy in a day after the start of the service.