Chennai: Apollo Proton Care Centre (APCC) and Ion Beam Applications (IBA) have entered into an agreement to provide training in proton care therapy to healthcare professionals. According to healthcare professionals, the MoU formalised the training that is being already provided.
In a press release, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Founder and Chairman, of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd said, "In association with IBA, the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre is becoming the first-of-its-kind training and education programme reference centre in Asia." Reddy stated that the group made a proposal which would lead to the establishment of four or five super speciality hospitals across the country with each of them having a proton care centre.
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Dr Reddy told the Hindu, "It took three years for ISRO to give us clearance (to install proton therapy centre) but IBA gave us the technology available with them on that day and not three-year-old technology." According to IBA officials, could cost €20 million to €40 million which would depend upon the kind of centre proposed.
According to Rakesh Jalali, Medical Director and head of Radiation Oncology at APCC, the collaboration would help them provide, "access to clinicians, physicists and therapists from across Asia and the world to avail themselves of training and education on contemporary proton beam therapy practice." Jalali added that APCC would become an international hub for new users and would provide an opportunity for existing users from around 150 centres to update their knowledge of the evolving technology. The annual practicum offered by the centre in May would be attended by 750 persons from different parts of the world. Jalali observed that around 2500 therapy centres are required all over the world, but there are currently only 150 centres. He said, "Typically when there is a new centre, you have to train 30 people to be able to start operation. Knowledge has not spread enough about proton therapy."
The press release as reported in The New Indian Express quoted Olivier Legrain, CEO at Ion Beam Applications, which developed the technology and commercialised it, "We are looking forward to collaborating with Apollo to provide high-quality training and education to proton therapy users in Asia without them travelling to another continent." Legrain said, "We envision a lot of proton therapy centres in Asia. It is necessary to upgrade one's knowledge in order to use the equipment safely and to its full potential."
According to Hospitals' executive vice-chairperson Preetha Reddy, proton therapy was introduced in APCC in 2019, and Reddy added, "it was the first in South East Asia and West Asia, making the world's most advanced radiation therapy a lot more accessible to millions of cancer patients." She said that the centre would further provide "valued access to clinicians across the world and be a pivotal contributor to research in oncology and proton therapy."
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