Total Body Irradiation Successfully Performed in Ukraine for the First Time

On 26 November 2021, doctors of the Kropyvnytskyi Clinic “TomoClinic” successfully carried out for the first time in Ukraine a very complex process of total irradiation of the whole body in cooperation with the Kyiv Center for Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Total irradiation of the body is a component of radiation therapy, which is a stage of preparation for bone marrow transplantation: a cancer-affected bone marrow is completely killed, and then after a series of measures transplantation is performed.

To perform this procedure, TomoClinic specialists used IGRT technology, i.e. treatment under visual control. Each time before the irradiation session, doctors checked the patient’s position on the treatment table so that the treatment plan corresponded to the patient’s condition during irradiation with a millimeter accuracy. This allowed the specialists not only conducting total body irradiation, but also protecting the kidneys, lungs and eyes of the patient.

Therefore, from now on, patients who need a bone marrow transplant can undergo a total body irradiation procedure in Ukraine, although until recently such treatment was available only abroad. By the way, bone marrow irradiation and subsequent transplantation in Ukraine are free, because, in accordance with Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine “On Transplantation of Human Anatomical Materials”, state policy in the field of transplantation and transplantation activities is aimed at ensuring free medical care applying transplantation; ensuring free of charge all types of medical care aimed at maintaining and/or restoring health for a living donor and a person who has been transplanted with anatomical materials.

According to TomoClinic