The Oncology-Radiotherapy Center of the Sainte-Clotilde Clinic, created in 1970, has a comprehensive cancer care offer:
- radiotherapy,
- chemotherapy,
- cancer surgery,
- 30-bed oncological medicine service.
It is particularly committed to clinical research in order to contribute to improving the health of the population by developing innovative therapies.
A true reference and high-tech center for cancer treatment in Réunion, and in line with greater health needs, the Oncology-Radiotherapy Center of the Clinique Sainte-Clotilde offers:
- the best means of innovative treatment: latest-generation hormone therapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy in volumetric arc therapy by intensity modulation and radiotherapy in stereotactic conditions.
- state-of-the-art radiotherapy equipment: the newly installed 2nd TrueBeam.
For the past year, the radiotherapy sector has also been the subject of construction work on a 3rd bunker, a room specially adapted and protecting the outside from the radiation emitted inside with lead walls of 1 meter 90 thick! It allows use without risk of exposure of personnel and the public. This bunker will very soon be able to accommodate the 1st radiosurgery robot in Reunion (and in the Indian Ocean area), the Cyberknife!
What is a TrueBeam and what does it do?
It is a device that allows the implementation of innovative irradiation techniques. Fully digitized, this particle accelerator has technical qualities that give it very high precision and formidable power with respect to cancerous targets.
Since the acquisition of our 1st TrueBeam in July 2016, the Oncology-Radiotherapy Center of the Sainte-Clotilde Clinic has been able to generalize its indications for radiotherapy in volumetric arc therapy by intensity modulation, guaranteeing its patients effective irradiation sparing the maximum healthy organs for better tolerance.
In addition, the Truebeam has enabled us for several years to develop hypofractionated radiotherapy under stereotactic conditions.
Stereotactic processing, made possible thanks to the TrueBeam
The principle of this technique consists in delivering a high dose of irradiation to a target tumor volume in a very limited number of sessions. Clearly, it delivers very high doses on small volumes and leaves little room for randomness. This greatly increases the efficiency of the irradiation.
On the other hand, it requires millimetric precision both in determining the volume to be treated, and in controlling the position of the tumor, the precision of the beam and the delivery of the dose at each session. Faced with the problem of tumors positioned in a mobile organ (lung, liver), the 4D technology that now equips our dosimetric scanner allows us to monitor the position of the tumor in real time and therefore improve the precision of our treatments.
Stereotactic radiotherapy at Clinique Sainte-Clotilde has considerably strengthened the therapeutic arsenal offered to our patients to fight cancer effectively. We are increasingly offering solutions for tumors that were previously not accessible to curative treatment using conventional techniques. We can also relieve our patients by avoiding lengthy chemotherapies for certain metastatic locations. This technique improves their comfort of life by reducing the toxicity of irradiation and by limiting their displacement thanks to the very reduced number of sessions.
Our experience in stereotaxy
It started with the treatment of intracranial lesions (small metastasis or primary cerebral tumour), but also on extracranial lesions (bone metastasis or mobile lesion, particularly pulmonary or hepatic). In practice, the first stereotaxic irradiations on "immobile" tumors started in November 2016, irradiations on "mobile" tumors have been carried out routinely since January 2017. Since the implementation of the 1st TrueBeam, nearly 800 treatments under stereotaxic conditions have been dispensed.
Our TrueBeams allow this treatment in stereotactic conditions, not to mention the Cyberknife very soon.
The 2nd Truebeam
- The second TrueBeam was received last November, replacing the Clinac (over 13 years old). Our 1st patient was treated on January 4.
The Oncology-Radiotherapy Center of Clinique Sainte-Clotilde is currently configured for 1400 radiotherapy treatments on these 2 machines.
- The acquisition of a second Truebeam completes the care offer with the possibility of extending this technology to twice as many patients. It also makes it possible to shorten the treatment times, i.e. 14 days on average between the 1st medical consultation and the 1st treatment session, this period can be reduced depending on the degree of urgency.
The 2 Truebeams are configured identically (mirror) and provide more comfort, which also saves time in patient care. The equipment secures the course and the continuity of care by offering us the possibility of using the second machine during maintenance operations.
Conclusion :
In 2020, Reunion counted around 2,200 new cases of cancer.
The therapeutic perspectives developed by the Center for Oncology-Radiotherapy considerably increase the number of cancer patients who can be treated. The expansion and modernization works, including the construction of the bunker, were carried out with 100% local players.
This investment demonstrates the commitment and the will of the clinic and the teams of the radiotherapy department to maintain the level of requirement and we thank them for their contribution at each stage of our development. Clinique Sainte-Clotilde’s radiotherapy activity is positioned as one of the best performing sectors in the Indian Ocean area. These architectural and technological feats are carried out by the Sainte-Clotilde Clinic and its team of radiotherapists and radiophysicians (alchemy essential) with the support of the Groupe de Santé CLINIFUTUR.
