The Islands Healthcare Complex – Macao Medical Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (hereinafter referred to as “Macao Union Medical Center”) has recently adopted the tomotherapy system (“TOMO” for short) for the first time in Macao for a cancer patient.

TOMO is one of the most advanced radiotherapy devices available today, which is advantageous in precise treatment, irradiation of ultra-long target volumes and simultaneous irradiation of multiple target volumes. It is currently the only device capable of performing cranio-spinal irradiation, total marrow irradiation and simultaneous treatment of multiple target volumes in one session. This makes it particularly suited for treating tumors that have longer target volumes and complex and systemic tumors (such as spinal cord and multiple organ tumors). In addition, the device utilizes dual-source cone-beam scanning and features an adaptive radiotherapy platform, enabling healthcare providers to select the adaptive radiotherapy function based on patients’ conditions. Following each fraction of the treatment, health professionals can rapidly adjust the therapy plan by analyzing each patient’s images generated during the treatment, the variations in lesion size between fractions and the deformation of the tumor’s adjacent normal tissue. Afterwards, the new therapy plan can be applied in the next fraction to ensure that the treatment dose is appropriately delivered to the tumor.

Besides, the design of the device’s slip-ring structure supports 360-degree rotation and 51 angles for continuous helical irradiation, which allows the radiation to be more precisely and evenly directed at the tumor, better protecting the surrounding normal tissues and significantly reducing the side effects associated with radiotherapy.

With the operation of the TOMO device, as well as the previously implemented TrueBeam, a stereotactic radiotherapy platform and Ethos, an online artificial intelligence-driven adaptive radiotherapy platform, the Macao Union Medical Center is now equipped with three internationally advanced radiotherapy machines. These machines can provide precise radiotherapy for patients with different types of cancer. With the use of these machines, the Macao Union Medical Center is dedicated to offering safer, efficient and personalized cancer treatment plans, therefore further improving the standard and facilitating the development of cancer treatment in Macao.