Seneffe, Belgium, September 28, 2011, Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG, a global leader in brachytherapy, has recently installed the first MultiSource® HDR (High Dose Rate) afterloader of the latest generation in the Centro de Control de Cancer LTDA in Bogota, Colombia. The system is the first of its kind worldwide and it is already used effectively in the treatment of cancer patients.

Centro de Control de Cancer is one of leading private medical institutions in Colombia and a renowned leader in the implementation of high technology in cancer treatment in South America. Opened in 1993, it is run by distinguished physicians: Armando Gaitan, Juan Carlos Arbelaez, Felipe Torres, Ricardo Cendales, Ivan Bobadilla and medical physicists: Jaider Vasques, Ricardo Español and Helbert Cortes. The centre is equipped with the latest technology for treating cancer including three linear accelerators and one Co-60 (Cobalt 60) machine. The new MultiSource® HDR afterloader complements the existing therapeutic line ideally. In addition to the MultiSource®, Centro de Control de Cancer is using HDRplusTM3.0, the latest version of Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG's treatment planning system, an intuitive software for precise and efficient HDR treatment planning, which provides its users with functions that considerably simplify and accelerate their preparation of the treatment plan.

"We have increased our productivity using the MultiSource® afterloader, considering that we have a reliable and fast device, accompanied by an excellent technical support and easy-to-use planning software. This has been highly appreciated by our physicians and physicists. Plans to implement image-guided brachytherapy in gynecological tumors and performing in vivo dosimetry are already on their way", said doctor Ricardo Cendales, six weeks after the installation of the MultiSource® afterloader in the clinic.

According to the doctors and physicists from the Centro de Control de Cancer in Bogota the innovative medical technology like MultiSource® afterloader contributes considerably to the facilitation of the clinical practice: "This is a very good example of the optimal results of a good relationship between the equipment developers and the clinical practitioners in order to make radiotherapy equipment easier, more precise and user friendly." (Armando Gaitan, physician).

Centro de Control de Cancer treats every day a large number of patients with brachytherapy. The three most common pathologies treated with HDR are gynecological, prostate and esophagus cancer. The clinic is dedicated to helping patients with limited financial resources. As a part of social policy, a special foundation was created to support this disadvantaged group of patients and to promote higher education to radiation therapy personnel at all levels.

The medical experts from Bogota see in the use of the MultiSource® afterloader an important step towards the fight against cancer and better quality of life for the patients: "The clinical introduction of a precise and safe afterloader like MultiSource® in combination with an innovative treatment planning system which provides more complex and accurate algorithms to the patients dose calculation is a perfect reflection of synergy between science and technology to improve patients' quality of life" stated Jaider Vasquez, medical physicist at the Centro de Control de Cancer.

Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG's MultiSource® device can be used with either an iridium-192 or a cobalt-60 source. Both sources are ideally suited to treat gynecological, prostate, breast, esophageal and lung cancers, as well as some cancers of the head and neck. Centro de Control de Cancer has purchased the MultiSource® afterloader with an iridium-192 source.

"Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG is the only company offering a multiple source HDR afterloader. With our proprietary Co-60 MultiSource® device, we offer a cost-effective solution in the fight against cancer. We have already installed over 170 MultiSource® systems worldwide, and more than 20,000 patients were treated with our systems in 2010," commented Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG's Managing Director Dr. Edgar Löffler.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer rates will continue to rise. More than 70 percent of all cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries. One reason for this grim death toll is the high cost of the equipment for conventional external beam therapy. Investments for brachytherapy are much lower. When used with Co-60, the new MultiSource®HDR afterloader reduces operating costs by up to 80 percent compared to an Ir-192 system.