Unicamp HC resumes radiotherapy sessions for cancer patients after device repair

Unicamp HC resumes radiotherapy sessions after device repair Unicamp Hospital de Clínicas The Hospital das Clínicas (HC) of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) resumed this Monday (3) radiotherapy sessions for cancer patients. The treatment was suspended due to a broken device and resumed operation after the arrival of a replacement part. According to hospital management, the part used to repair the radiotherapy machine was imported from Singapore. Over the weekend, teams from the unit and the manufacturer carried out tests on the equipment to ensure a safe return to patients. The HC reported that, during the period in which the machine was broken, the patients continued to receive medical care. Viable cases were transferred to another device in the unit. For those who depended exclusively on technology being maintained, doctors adapted treatment by adjusting doses to compensate for the break. Remember the case The machine had not been working since the first half of July. At the time of the interruption, a patient over 70 years old, who is fighting throat cancer and preferred not to be identified, reported his anguish over the suspension of care. He would need to go through 33 sessions and had already completed 24. "I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do the day after tomorrow. I just see the days passing by and the worry increasing", he lamented. The elderly man's daughter said she contacted the hospital's ombudsman, but received no solution. "We call there every day and nothing, and always the same answer, that we have to wait for a part to arrive and then the technician can go and put it there," he said. At the time of the complaint, oncologist Karina Ishikawa explained that radiotherapy requires five continuous weekly sessions. According to the expert, prolonged interruptions reduce the effectiveness of the treatment and can compromise the chances of a cure.