New prostate cancer protocol quicker and less painful

DutchNews, January 30, 2020 

Cancer cells. Photo: Depositphotos.com

A new protocol in investigating potential prostate cancer will make the process cheaper, quicker and less painful, broadcaster NOS reports. 

If a blood test has suggested possible prostate cancer, the next step will now be an MRI scan instead of a painful needle biopsy. This biopsy typically involves inserting a needle through the rectal wall into the prostate from which 12 samples used to be taken. 

‘Thanks to the scan we can tell exactly where the cancer is and, consequently, we know where to perform a biopsy and will have to remove only three samples. If nothing shows up on the scan, the chances are that nothing is the matter and no biopsy is needed,’ radiology professor and initiator of the new protocol Jelle Barentz told NOS. 

The new protocol will be used in all Dutch hospitals from Thursday. 

Under the old guideline 60% of men who had the biopsy did not have a tumour. That means 23,000 out of 40,000 men no longer have to undergo a procedure which is both painful and can cause complications, such as bleeds and inflammation. 

Some 10,000 men are diagnosed with an aggressive form of the cancer every year, of whom 2,500 die. The new method will only detect the aggressive kind, which is an added bonus, Barentz said, because non-aggressive prostate cancer does not kill and treatment is not necessary. 

It is estimated that costs will also go down by €375 per patient, or €15m in total.

Philips to spin off domestic appliance unit, focus on healthcare technology

DutchNews, January 28, 2020 

Philips at a radiology trade fair in December. Photo: Philips

Dutch electronics giant Philips is to spin off its domestic appliance division to focus purely on health technology and personal care items. 

The company has started creating a separate legal structure for its domestic appliances division, which booked sales of €2.3bn last year, and expects this process to be completed within a year to 18 months. 

The unit, which includes air fryers and coffee makers, has made ‘a very important contribution to Philips’ chief executive Frans van Houten said in a statement. 

‘However this business is not a strategic fit for our future as a health technology leader,’ he said. ‘We are committed to finding a good home for this business to continue to thrive and grow over time, as we expand and invest in our consumer health and professional healthcare related businesses.’ 

Philips made the announcement at the publication of its 2019 figures. The company saw like-for-like full year sales rise 4.4%% to €19.5bn. Income from continuing operations was down slightly at €1.2bn. 

Houten said ‘headwinds’ were to blame for the company’s failure to meet its profitability improvement target. 

In 2016, Philips spun off its lighting activities, which are now bourse-listed under the name Signify. The company’s roots date back 130 years to the light bulb business founded by Frederik and Gerard Philips in 1891 in Eindhoven.

Dutch hospital to launch 'one-day' cancer operation and results

DutchNews.nl, Friday 20 June 2014

(NOS/ANP)

Radboud University hospital in Nijmegen is to start offering people with some forms of cancer a 'one-day' service to remove tumors and assess if all the cancerous cells have been taken away from next year.

The hospital is building three specialised operating theatres for the new approach, which involve patients finding out on the day of their operation if all cancerous cells have been removed.

At the moment, it takes some two weeks after an operation to find out if a patient has the all-clear.

Follow up

This new approach will not only cut waiting times for patients but will reduce the number of people needing follow-up treatment, professor Hein Gooszen told newspaper Trouw.

At the moment some 20% to 30% of patients need radiation or chemotherapy, Gooszen said. 'By carrying out extra research immediately, we hope to reduce this to almost zero,' the professor told the paper.

The hospital will do this by using a micro-MRI scanner which allows pathologists to differentiate between good and bad cells.

Siemens

The equipment is extremely expensive but manufacturer Siemens is contributing to the cost of the project, the paper says.

The project will initially concentrate on prostate cancer, gynaecological cancers and cancers of the head and neck. If the new approach is successful, it will be expanded to cover breast and other cancers.

To ensure the new approach is working, cells will also be tested in a traditional laboratory after the operation.

'We want to be able to say after five years if this works,' Gooszen said. He believes the Nijmegen hospital is the first in the world to offer the one-day approach.

Residents go overseas for checkup

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Poor medical services and equipment lead some 100 Medan residents to leave North Sumatra each day to seek health treatment overseas, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore.

Chairman of the Medan chapter of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), Nur Rasyid Lubis, said it has become a trend lately for Medan residents to seek medical treatment abroad.

Local doctors, he said, are capable of handling all the illnesses but are hampered by the lack of modern equipment and an effective medical system.

"We cannot blame people for seeking treatment overseas. This is understandable because they use state-of-the-art medical equipment overseas. Patients feel comfortable being examined with such equipment," Rasyid told The Jakarta Post.

Chairman of the North Sumatra Surgeons Association, Ronald Sihotang, said equipment used by doctors in the country lagged far behind compared to Malaysia and Singapore.

Both neighboring countries, said Ronald, had acquired the latest equipment in line with the development of medical technology.

"Malaysia and Singapore have the latest version of CT Scan and MRI equipment, while similar equipment in Indonesia is already outdated," said Ronald.

Ronald said almost all hospitals in Malaysia and Singapore were equipped with modern equipment, while in Indonesia CT Scan and MRI machines were only available in provincial level hospitals.

Rasyid cited other factors like quick and cheap services as other benefits of visiting overseas medical facilities. According to Rasyid, no hospitals in Indonesia offer quick and reasonably priced services to patients.

He said the heavy work loads of some doctors in Indonesia -- many work in both state and private hospitals -- meant they were less able to concentrate and thus slower in handling patients.

"State-appointed doctors should not moonlight in private hospitals, because they cannot provide optimum services due to fatigue. This is what patients have been complaining about," said Rasyid.

He added the number of doctors in Medan was sufficient.

"There are 2,000 doctors in Medan, 500 of whom are specialists. But most of them work in state as well as private hospitals."

Rasyid urged the government to draw up a new regulation aimed at curbing doctors from having double jobs, so they could concentrate better on treating patients.

He cited an example in Malaysia where doctors are supervised by the government.

"The Indonesian government should oversee doctors working in state and private hospitals, but it should go together with the improvement of doctors' welfare."