ManilaMed launches new State-of-the-Art Cancer Care Unit

ManilaMed lives up to their tagline: One care makes the difference!

When one member of the family has acquired the Big C, everyone in the family is affected. The mere mention of the word Cancer is enough to scare people. With the crucial times we now have where cancer cells become active more than ever, it’s even scarier to think how much we need to allot as saved money for our hospital confinement if we do not have health insurance. The good news is hope is still within reach. ManilaMed, one of the country’s leading hospitals, recently opened a newly constructed Cancer Care Center. They offer holistic cancer facility with state-of-the-art equipment as well as fresh approach in treating cancer patients. 

Purple Plum Fairy was invited during the press briefing at ManilaMed last month where the expert doctors discussed the future of cancer in the country. They also gave us a glimpse of the procedures for newly diagnosed admitted patients, the benefits of multi-disciplinary team approach for each cancer patient, the advancement and innovative technology for radiotherapy, the side-effects and complications that may arise using their Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy Treatment. 

Cancer Care Unit at the ManilaMed

The beds at the Cancer Care Unit

Waiting area at the Radiation Therapy Unit have comfortable chairs

The ManilaMed Expert Doctors during the Q And A

Yes, there is still hope for cancer afflicted patients. With the advancement of technology, cancer can be prevented and cured when diagnosed early on. ManilaMed is the first in the country to use Linear Accelerator [LINAC] radiation therapy machine that utilizes focused radiation to kill cancer cells only where it should be. In most cases, radiation is less drastic and less invasive option than actual open surgery. 

This is the state-of-the-art radiation therapy machine

The LINAC machine where cancer can be treated on the spot

“One of the newer features of the Cancer Care Center which we are trying to introduce is the concept of the multidisciplinary team approach in the management of Cancer,” says Cancer Care Center head medical oncologist Dr. Dennis Sacdalan. “We bring people from different disciplines, different specialties together in one setting, and they’re there to discuss a patient so that all aspects of the patient’s treatment can be covered.”

Dr. Liangco, another oncologist at the center also explains, “When a patient is treated for cancer, there is a tendency for the treatment to be disjointed, especially if the patient is seeing many doctors like a surgeon, a pain specialist, etc. There is a tendency for some of the data to get lost in translation, some time to be lost, and for things to be inefficient in general.” He concludes “That is one of the reasons why we are coming up with a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach for cancer, the efficacy of the MDT approach is supported by studies.”

Purple Plum Fairy along with members of the media and bloggers were given a tour of the said cancer facility. They focus on both diagnosis as well as the holistic treatment of the disease. They also give counselling and talk for the family of the cancer patients and those who take care of the patient. It’s such a good news to hear that there are one-stop facilities for cancer patients. They accept health cards and PhilHealth will also subsidized some of the hospital expenses.

The ManileMed doctors assured that their Cancer Care Center have the best hardware in the country. “Our LINAC machine can zero in on a tumor and because it is focused only on the affected area, it minimizes damage to healthy tissues,” explains Raquel Santecera, head Medical Physicist at ManilaMed Radition Therapy Unit. “With the help of our new LINAC, accuracies in terms of hitting the tumor is reckoned in millimetres. It’s one of the three similar machines in the entire country. And we’re proud to say that only ManilaMed has this kind of technology, beams Dr. Vicente Hizon, Chief Radition oncology at ManilaMed.

 “Here at ManilaMed, we strive to be more holistic in our approach. Aside from having a team of doctors, we also hope to introduce other aspects of cancer care. Part of the multi-disciplinary team approach is to provide psycho-social support, even spiritual support. Pastoral care will be part and parcel of the multidisciplinary management of patients,” shares Dr. Sacdalan. “For patients who may not be cured of their cancer for a long time, we have a palliative care team that will be able to take care of these patients even outside the hospital. Hopefully, we can go into home care programs so that the hospital services can be extended to these patients even in their houses when patients are too weak to come to the hospital.”

Indeed, ManilaMed lives up to its tagline: "One care makes a difference."

ManilaMed is one of the leading hospitals in the Philippines, it is located at 1000 Gen. Luna St, Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila Philippines. For more information on the Cancer Care Center at ManilaMed, go to http://manilamed.com.ph/portfolio-items/cancer-care-center/, or call (02) 523-8121 local 2647.