The national cancer registry program (2020) highlights that one out on nine Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime.
What makes things challenging is that around 95% of cancer centres are based in urban cities while around 70% of the India population lives in rural India.
The World Health Organization in 2020 estimated that currently 2.7* million Indians suffer from cancer. Each year one and a half million are added to this growing number. Then there is the question of access.
Travelling considerable distances to be treated does not make the recovery journey any easier. Out-of-pocket payments make the situation worse, literally driving families to bankruptcy in the hope that the treatment would cure their loved ones.
Today, there are three primary methods of cancer treatment: surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy & few more being practiced.
Depending on the nature of the cancer, either a single method or a combination of all are used to treat the cancer. Around 50% of cancer patients in the developed countries . receive radiotherapy, while in India we are hovering around the 25% mark.*
When we look at radiotherapy machines per million population in India, we are at a dismal .5 per million population as compared to four per million in high income countries.
Only 14% of our districts have access to radiotherapy units. The gap is huge and so is the potential to improve.
It is not just about the availability of these systems that would address the issue at hand. It is a combination of relevant technology, closing the skill gap, and digital infrastructure that will enable care to those with cancer in India.
“We are working closely with the government on public-private partnership (PPP) projects which will ensure the access to many more government centres.
Patients across the country will be able to leverage the availability of clinical excellence and technology closer to their homes, at an affordable cost.
Understanding the gap on the skills side, Elekta has been partnering with corporate and governmental healthcare providers to develop centres of excellence, focused around training, skill development and education,” says Manikandan Bala, Elekta’s Senior Vice President for TIMEA & Asia Pacific.
Elekta’s expertise in the field:
As a leader in precision radiotherapy, Elekta is committed to ensuring every patient has access to the best cancer care possible.
Elekta openly collaborate with customers to advance sustainable, outcome-driven and cost-efficient solutions to meet evolving patient needs, improve lives and bring hope to everyone dealing with cancer.
To Elekta, it’s personal, and their global team of 4,700 employees combine passion, science, and imagination to profoundly change cancer care. They don’t just build technology, They build hope.
Elekta is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in more than 120 countries and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
Elekta’s mission is to improve patient lives by working together with our customers.
They use their precision radiation expertise to work hand in hand with clinicians and partners to continuously develop innovative, outcome-driven and cost-efficient solutions that provide lasting clinical difference.
Elekta believes in taking an open and proactive approach in practices, enabling them to build strong partnerships and meet evolving patient needs, no matter where they are in the world.
Elekta doesn’t just build technology, Elekta builds hope.
Elekta’s vision is a world where everyone has access to the best cancer care.
Today, Elekta is exclusively focused on radiation oncology. Unlike other solution providers in this field, Elekta has chosen to remain focused on the core problem of cancer care.
This precision focus gives Elekta the added advantage of domain depth. They are innovators and pioneers in the field of radiation oncology and neurosurgery.
Elekta’s offering allows clinicians to treat more patients with increased quality, both with value-creating innovations in solutions and AI-supported service based on a global network.
they offer products for radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, brachytherapy, neurosurgery and oncology informatics.
Linear accelerators, or linacs, are the cornerstone of radiotherapy departments, treating a wide range of cancer tumors. An Elekta linac is more than a machine—it is a treatment solution—and their advanced radiation treatment planning and review software, comprehensive quality assurance tools and extensive service options support the hospitals in getting the most out of our linacs. Manikandan Bala says:
“In the past, emerging countries have adapted technology designed for mature markets, leading to a high cost of treatment as many of the inbuilt features are not optimal in our geography. While the availability of this technology helped tackle the access problem to a degree, it did not particularly work in favour of affordability. In a country where most healthcare is paid out of pocket by private citizens, this posed a major roadblock. Today, things are different. With our latest technologies, such as Elekta Harmony, the foundation of design has been made stronger on the feedback from the clinicians of India. While this is a global product, it caters to the needs of an emerging country like India.”
Manikandan Bala says
Elekta Unity, Elekta’s ground-breaking MR-Linac technology, is a unique offering. It brings together diagnostic quality MR imaging with a linear accelerator to deliver unprecedented visibility and precision – truly enabling personalized radiotherapy. Unity has the potential to improve clinical outcomes.
Clinicians can now see what they could never see before.
Utilizing ultraprecise radiation delivery techniques, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a non-invasive procedure used to treat brain disorders such as tumours, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and some functional diseases.
When used to treat areas other than the brain it is sometimes known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). SRS treatments are typically delivered using either Leksell Gamma Knife or a linac.
Gamma Knife is yet another exclusive offering by Elekta and is the gold standard of care for SRS treatments. During Gamma Knife radiosurgery, up to 192 radiation beams from cobalt-60 sources converge with high accuracy on the target.
At the isocenter where the beams merge, the radiation dose is concentrated powerfully at the target, sparing surrounding healthy brain tissue.
In radiotherapy, immobilization devices are used to ensure that the patient remains in the correct posture throughout the treatment.
For SRS treatments, there are currently two immobilization options: a frame and a mask.
Elekta’s latest frame, the Leksell Vantage Stereotactic System, provides a greatly improved patient experience with its open face design which gives additional patient comfort, and provides improved access for anesthesia.
It is also easy and fast to operate and does not require sterilization since the pins used to fix the mask to the patient’s head are disposable.
Its innovative materials provide dramatically less image distortion and excellent imaging quality, especially in the MRI, allowing clinicians to see more anatomy as well as potentially speeding up the imaging process for both MRI and CT.
Brachytherapy, sometimes known as internal radiotherapy, can be used to treat many types of cancer.
It makes it possible for the radiation oncologist to deliver higher doses of radiation to more specific areas of the body compared to conventional forms of radiotherapy.
Elekta’s brachytherapy solutions are designed for the precise, targeted treatment of various cancers including head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, bronchus and oesophagus cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, skin cancer and vaginal/gynaecologic cancers.
Elekta’s oncology informatics product MOSAIQ Plaza is a suite of digital tools providing the foundation to deliver precision therapy and data-driven workflows that allow departments to continuously improve, treat more patients and reduce costs.
Whatever the size the clinic, regardless of location, MOSAIQ Plaza provides the digital support care givers need to deliver the best multidisciplinary care possible to patients – consistently, reliably, and securely – connecting the clinician to every moment of their journey, from diagnosis to survivorship generating real-world evidence.
Elekta is constantly improving the situation for all cancer-related stakeholders. Collaborating with clinicians and partners to continuously develop innovative, outcome-driven and cost-efficient solutions differentiates us from others in this domain.
Here is what Elekta’s innovative journey has looked like for far:
1972 – Pioneered radiosurgery with Gamma Knife
2003 – First to integrate Cone Beam CT and introduce image-guided radiotherapy
2008 – First Monte Carlo based treatment planning system
2012 – Introduction of Agility, the highest performing Multi Leaf Collimeter in market
2015 – First online adaptive radiosurgery system: Leksell Gamma Knife Icon
2016 – Elekta introduces Venezia Advanced Gynaecological Applicator, for brachytherapy treatment of advanced gynaecological cancers
2018 – First high-field MR-Linac: Elekta Unity
2020 – Elekta Harmony Linac, perfectly balancing productivity, versatility and precision without compromise, making it a solution for both mature and developing markets
2020 – Elekta Studio, which brings complete image-guided brachytherapy workflow to a single room
Elekta today have more than 450 radiotherapy systems from across Elekta’s portfolio, clinical and in service for India.
They are associated with the best cancer care hospitals and clinics across the nation, such as: AIIMS, Fortis, HCG, Tata Memorial, Medanta, Apollo, Narayana Superspeciality and Jupiter Hospitals, all of whom have put their faith in Elekta.
India’s first Unity system will be clinical this year at Yashoda Hospital, Hyderabad and the first Elekta Harmony linac will be available at CHL Indore.
“Our recognition comes from the growing number of patients that are treated on Elekta technology – everyday!” While this sounds simple, I assure you that to make this happen, it takes an entire community coming together. We do it by partnering with clinicians from both the private and public sector to increase access to affordable care,”
Manikandan Bala.
When asked what the most important aspect his team was currently working on and how were they making it happen, Mani explains: “When one tackles cancer, the most important task is to be innovative. We must innovate to address the infrastructure problem, the technology access problem, and the affordability problem.
For many people, a cancer diagnosis might seem like a death sentence. It’s not. We have focused on developing technology that delivers great clinical outcomes. While the key will always remain early diagnosis, we expect that our state-of-the-art systems will continue to change the landscape of care delivery.
We are focused on providing accessibility to care by partnering with the community to increase the number of linacs across the country in order to bridge the access gap and making the technology affordable to the families that need it. Innovation is also of great significance in our service and logistics operations – ensuring we tackle the logistical challenge of this huge country.
As a proof point, we have introduced new technologies in the form of Elekta Harmony and Elekta Unity. Elekta Harmony was built on the feedback of clinicians from India and similar such markets. These systems, with more clinical features, lead to better treatment outcomes.”
Elekta rolled out its strategy, ACCESS 2025, last year. The vison of ACCESS 2025 is a world where everyone has access to the best cancer care. To Elekta, this means:
Availability of care, meaning expanding patient access to precision radiotherapy by improving available resources for the population.
Elevation of care improves patient access to better and more efficient care by driving clinical adoptions on new technology, optimal utilization of existing technology as well as improving clinical decision support via analytics.
Participation in care improves patients and their care teams’ ability to together improve clinical outcomes through deeper and richer patient data.
Elekta’s ACCESS 2025 strategy is built around four strategic pillars:
· Accelerate innovation with customer utilization in mind
· Drive partner integration across the cancer care ecosystem
· Be the customer lifetime companion
· Drive adoption across the globe
The result from the work Elekta does within these pillars should be notable in their markets through their solutions, their joint offerings with partners, their service model, the way they conduct their business and how they adapt to local market contexts.
Supporting their four strategic pillars are two internal enablers: People, Resilience and Process Excellence.
Building and continuously developing their people and teams and ensuring good cross-organizational collaboration is essential for successful execution.
A continued focus on resilience and process excellence is also necessary to ensure long term competitiveness. Finally, all Elekta’s pillars and enablers need to be delivered in a sustainable way.
To sum up, Elekta’s precision radiation medicine is revolutionizing cancer care.
Bringing together science technology and intelligence, Elekta is working with clinicians, towards a future, where everyone in the world can benefit from precise and individually tailored radiotherapy treatments. Giving millions of patients the chance to live more moments that matter.
Everyday.
Elekta – we provide hope for everyone
