HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd, (HCG) a leading comprehensive cancer care centre in the country, has invested Rs 40 crore for advanced equipment at its facility in Bangalore.

To begin with, it has made a Rs 30 crore investment for a Cyber Knife technology which will be commissioned in February. This makes it the first facility in the country to install the advanced radio guided surgery system. The second is a Rs 10 crore investment in 'Artise' which is an advanced Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) system.

The Group which has a 180-bed hospital in Bangalore has already seen a fund infusion of Rs 80 crore ($20 million) from PremjiInvest, a fund sponsored by Wipro chief Azim Premji. The funds have been used for major expansion into Tier I and Tier II cities to offer high-end oncology care to the growing number of cancer cases in the country besides setting up of three Centre of Excellence in Bangalore, New Delhi and Ahmedabad. Based on the hub and spoke model, the Group will need to invest Rs 8-10 crore for each new centre. The facilities at Vijayawada and Hubli are expected to be commissioned in February.

The Cyber Knife is a frameless robotic radio surgery system. It is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumours anywhere in the body, including the prostate, lung, brain, spine, liver, pancreas and kidney. The treatment which delivers beams of high dose radiation to tumours with extreme accuracy will now offers new hope to patients, stated Dr B S Ajai Kumar, chairman, HCG.

The two main elements of the Cyber Knife are the radiation produced from the small linear particle accelerator and robotic arm which allows the energy to be directed at any part of the body from any direction. The system is used to treat benign and malignant tumours.

HCG's Center for Robotic Radio surgery, Bangalore will be commissioned in October. Currently, the hospital has 180 beds and with the new centre, the total bed strength will be increased to 280, stated Dr. Kumar

The Group is now South Asia's largest cancer care provider. It has partnered with over 150 doctors to operate out of 16 centres in SMH Curie Centre in New Delhi, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Ranchi, four units in Bangalore, Bharat Hospital and Cancer Institute at Mysore and the Malnad Hospital and Institute of Oncology in Shimoga. Facilities at Vijayawada and Hubli will be operational before the year-end.

A visible trend according to Dr Kumar is that increasing number of early stage breast cancer patients flocking to its facility which is a clear indication of the high level of awareness on diagnosis and treatment. Other challenging cancers handled by the facility include oseophagus small cell carcinoma among others.