Holy Family Hospital (HFH) Rawalpindi has started providing advanced cancer treatment through a cryoablation machine, giving eligible patients access to the procedure free of cost.
The facility treats selected patients with small cancerous tumours. Earlier, the Hospital officials said the new machine would become operational during the last week of September.
A total of 15 specialised probes have reached the hospital for the first phase. Each probe costs around Rs1.6 million and can be used for one patient only.
The first phase will therefore provide treatment to 15 patients. More probes are expected to be supplied after these procedures are completed.
Which Cancer patients can get free treatment?
Patients with cancers of the liver, lungs, breast and kidneys will be considered for cryoablation.
However, the treatment will initially be limited to eligible patients with tumours measuring up to two centimetres. Patients with larger tumours will not qualify under the current selection criteria.
Cancer cases are being screened at four hospitals before patients are selected for the procedure. These are Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital and the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).
Selected patients will also be evaluated in consultation with specialist doctors from NORI Hospital Islamabad, before undergoing cryoablation.
How does Cryoablation work?
Cryoablation is a minimally invasive procedure used to destroy abnormal tissue, including cancerous tumours. It uses extreme cold around a tumour to freeze and destroy targeted cells.
Reportedly the Rawalpindi programme system can freeze tumour tissue at temperatures reaching around minus 180 degrees Celsius. A heating stage of around 100 degrees Celsius is also used during the treatment process.
Patients selected under the programme will not be charged for the procedure.
The introduction of cryoablation at Holy Family Hospital follows its earlier use at Mayo Hospital Lahore. Punjab authorities have been expanding the technology to other major hospitals so that more cancer patients can access minimally invasive treatment.
The Punjab government has also approved a separate 100-bed cancer treatment tower at Holy Family Hospital for patients from Rawalpindi Division. Planning work for that project has already started.