Low-cost cobalt-60 brachytherapy for cervical cancer in every regional centre
Cervical cancer cannot be cured by external radiotherapy alone; it needs internal radiation, which many hospitals lack. A cheaper internal-radiation unit using a long-lived source could be placed in every regional centre.
Brachytherapy is essential for curative cervical cancer treatment, yet many LMIC radiotherapy centres have none or have units whose iridium-192 sources cannot be replaced every three months for cost and logistics reasons. Cobalt-60 HDR sources last about five years and are dosimetrically equivalent for cervix. A programme to fund cobalt HDR units, standardise applicators and image-guided planning, and train teams would close a specific and well-understood cure gap.
- Most of the world has almost no cancer care · Seven in ten cancer deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, where radiotherapy, pathology, surgery and drugs are scarce.
- Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least · Surgery and radiotherapy cure more people than drugs do, but attract a fraction of the research investment.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaModernised cobalt-60 machines as a deliberate bridge where linacs cannot be kept running
Shares Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Cervical cancer.
- IdeaRadiotherapy for everyone who needs it by 2040
Shares Brachytherapy, Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Cervical cancer.
- IdeaSingle-fraction radiotherapy as the default for painful bone metastases
Shares Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.
- InstitutionHacettepe University Cancer Institute
Shares Brachytherapy, Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Cervical cancer.
- IdeaBlended finance and a low-cost linac to close the global radiotherapy gap
Shares Brachytherapy, Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Cervical cancer.
- IdeaPay for radiotherapy machine uptime, not for the machine
Shares Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.
- IdeaSame-day HPV test and heat treatment of precancer by nurses in low-income settings
Shares Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Cervical cancer.
- IdeaStructured mentorship so district general surgeons perform common cancer operations safely
Shares Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.