ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a description of implementation of the high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy in Senegal; requiring a nonstandard fractionation schedule and a novel treatment planning approach. The Institut Joliot-Curie Cancer Center in Dakar, Senegal, is the only radiation therapy facility in the country and is a regional referral center for cervical cancer for Senegal and for all of West Africa. Senegal has a population of nearly 13 million people and has one of the highest incidence rates of cervical cancer in the world. Compounding this problem is the lack of radiation treatment facilities in Senegal and many other parts of the African continent. In 2012, Radiating Hope, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide radiation therapy equipment to countries in the developing world received a donation of a HDR after loading unit including three magnet resonance imaging (MRI)-compatible tandem and ring applicators. The radiation oncologists at the cancer center are well trained and experienced with low-dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy.
