GN Focus ReportFiled on 2022-02-04 | Last updated on 2022-02-04 14:51:19
A 53-year-old school teacher from Lebanon, Ameen Khair Eddin, says he is now alive because he underwent a life-saving bone marrow transplant therapy at Burjeel Medical City. The sole breadwinner of his family of wife and two children, Eddin was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in January 2021.
“I was shattered and saw death in front of me,” recalls Eddin of the first thoughts he had when the doctor confirmed the diagnosis.
Though he started treatment in Lebanon, Eddin and his wife, Maha, looked for better treatment options. He came to know about Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi through his doctor.
“After initial online consultation, Maha and I flew to Abu Dhabi with high hopes. Thankfully, Allah heard our prayers. After two months of treatment, I am doing better now,” says Eddin from Lebanon.
Eddin’s is not a lone case. Burjeel Medical City is changing lives and giving hope to hundreds of cancer patients.
Since it launched the bone marrow transplant therapy in September 2021, Burjeel Medical City has saved many lives.
“Cancer is not the end of life. It is a deadly disease but treatable. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. At Burjeel Medical City, we spread the message of hope to people with cancer. We are actively engaged in creating awareness and offering tailor-made treatment to our patients. Providing world-class care and expertise here in the UAE will help the patients to avail treatment here without traveling abroad,” said Prof. Humaid Alshamsi, Consultant Oncology and Director of Oncology Services at VPS Healthcare.
Leader in Oncology
Located at Mohammed Bin Zayed City in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, Burjeel Medical City aims to transform into a leader in cancer care. The multi-specialty tertiary care hospital and clinical research Center is the first and only ESMO-accredited cancer center in the UAE. The European Society for Medical Oncology is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology with more than 25,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide.
Equipped with ultra-modern machines and empowered by renowned and extensively-experienced doctors certified by western medical boards, Burjeel Medical City envisions becoming an oncology center catering to the needs of patients from across the globe.
The unique and modern equipment at the hospital enables early diagnosis and ensures precision treatment. It has an intraoperative MRI for cranial and spine tumor resection and a Medtronic Surgical Navigation System to detect and confirm tumor resection.
The center has the technology and human resource to perform the sophisticated Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) surgery, a two-step procedure that treats certain cancers in the abdomen. In this procedure, cancerous tumors are surgically removed, and then heated chemotherapy drugs are applied directly inside the abdomen to eliminate the remaining cancerous cells.
Savi Scout is another unique technology possessed by the center. Used to treat breast cancer, Savi Scout is a tiny piece of equipment inserted into the affected breast tissue to remove it. It cannot be seen outside and does not induce any feeling or difficulty once inserted.
Frozen Section Pathology Lab at Burjeel Medical City enables real-time analysis of tissue samples while the patient is in the operating room. The rapid turnaround of results saves patients’ time and money and helps in avoiding reoperation.
Burjeel Medical City has the Philips Ingenuity TOF PET scanner with 64 slice CT and the GE discovery 860 SPECT-CT strengthening it to provide nuclear medicine therapy to cancer patients.
Dr. Sadir Alrawi, Chief Executive Officer of Burjeel Medical City, said: “As a responsible healthcare provider, our mission is to extend our healing hands to cancer patients around the world. We are upgrading ourselves with technology and knowledge to deliver the best care to our valued patients. So we constantly and simultaneously adapt to newer developments and advancements in healthcare, especially in oncology. We are proud to be one of the few institutions in the region possessing state-of-the-art technology in treating cancer. We will continue to lead and are committed to taking the UAE’s healthcare sector to greater heights.”
Specialised services
Burjeel Medical City has extensive resources and technical capabilities to diagnose cancer and ensure a patient-centric treatment approach. The trained medical oncology team at Burjeel Medical City has the expertise in diagnosing cancer and delivering care maintaining the patients’ quality of life and prolonging their life expectancy.
The multi-disciplinary oncology team at the center can provide advanced cancer treatment methods such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and hormone therapy to destroy the cancer cells and control their growth and spread. Burjeel Medical City established the UAE’s largest oncology multi-disciplinary team (MDT) biweekly meeting, which consists of experts across the UAE, to discuss about cancer care and cases. The MDT discussed more than 1500 cases in 2021, which has made an impact in improving cancer care in the UAE.
The Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant department offers treatment for hematological malignancies, benign hematology (anemia, thrombocytopenia, and other cytopenias), thrombosis, and bleeding disorders. Equipped with 13 beds to admit transplant patients, the department follows the EBMT guidelines to create a HEPA-filtered environment and provides personalized patient care and comfort to render favorable clinical outcomes.
The surgical oncology division combines the surgical experience and expertise with technological advancements in treating malignant tumors through complex surgical procedures. To provide patients with the best clinical outcome and faster recovery, Burjeel Medical City offers minimally invasive laparoscopic and advanced surgical techniques combined with other divisions of oncology.
The Radiation Oncology department at the Burjeel Medical City offers the most advanced patient-tailored techniques of radiotherapy, including a state-of-the-art fully integrated stereotactic body radiotherapy and radiosurgery program. Being the only Novalis Center currently in the UAE, the department of Radiotherapy is happy to offer its expertise along with knowledge and protocols shared between world-leading cancer organizations.
Clinical research
Burjeel Medical City’s contributions to clinical research on cancer treatment are well recognized. The studies conducted by the experts at the institution have been published in leading international journals. These studies aim to provide more reliable data and outputs for the medical and academic community in fighting the Big C. As per the Emirates Oncology Society, Burjeel Medical City secured the first rank for cancer research in the UAE with 29 publications in international journals in 2021.
Well-connected network
Burjeel ensures that its services are accessible for people in the UAE and abroad. The medics of the Burjeel Cancer Institute are available across the Burjeel network in the UAE in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah, and Dubai, and in Oman. Foreign patients can avail the services of the doctors through the international patient cell at Burjeel Hospitals.
Read Full story: Gulf News
