the largest radiotherapy facility in Singapore in NCCS

Treating Cancer with Radiation TherapyThe Department of Radiation Oncology is the largest of four radiotherapy facilities in Singapore, with our specialists seeing 3,000 new cases a year. It has transformed from its basic service origins into a high technology radiation oncology centre of international calibre. It serves as a referral centre not only for Singapore, but also for the East Asian region. It has also become a regional centre for training both medical doctors and radiation physicists for this region.
The department seeks to provide an integrated and thoughtful approach to all oncological problems with an emphasis on multidisciplinary care and tumour site specialisation. It manages the full spectrum of malignancies:
Adult and paediatric
Solid and haematological
Radiation TherapyHow Radiation Therapy Works Radiation therapy uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing or spreading. Radiation is delivered only to a localised region. Although it can affect both cancer cells and normal cells, radiation treatment attempts to destroy more cancer cells and spare as many normal cells as possible.
Customising Radiation TherapyRadiation treatment is usually given on an outpatient basis, 5 days a week, for several weeks depending on the type of cancer. Each treatment course is customised to ensure that radiation (is specific for each individual patient to optimise treatment of ) the cancer while avoiding or minimising damage to the surrounding (normal) tissues.
Radiation Therapy can be administered by:
External Beam Therapy where radiation (from an external source) is directed from the treatment machine to a particular area of your body
Internal Radiation Therapy (Brachytherapy) where a small radioactive material is placed inside your body exactly or close to where the cancer is.
More information can be found in the ‘Understanding Radiation Therapy’ Booklet.
Advances in TreatmentIMRT This is a specialised type of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy that focuses multiple radiation beams on the tumor. Beam intensities vary, so that the highest possible doses can be used to destroy cancerous tissue with sparing of normal structures. Proper positioning of the patient is crucial to the success of IMRT. Imaging of the target volume involves using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as well as Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and radiation oncologists use special planning software to determine the most accurate treatment. By these means the patients may have a higher chance of cure with a lower risk of side effects from the radiation treatment.
Being well equipped with the latest treatment machines and simulators, the department is capable of providing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery and high dose-rate brachytherapy. In another step forward, IMRT has been used to treat 112 nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients. IMRT improves (the delivery of external beam radiation therapy and has been shown to also improve) the quality of life of patients by reducing the xerostomia (dryness of the mouth) rate. The use of this advanced equipment has also shown a local control and survival advantage.