SERVICES

Treatment

Ocean Road cancer Institute has established and provides cancer treatment programmes in order to completely cure or significantly prolong the life of patients undergoing treatment sessions at the hospital. ORCI treatments procedures to the patients ensures the finest conceivable quality of service and care with favorably outcome, it is our main goal to increase cancer survivorship for all types and stages of cancers for patients treated at Ocean Road Cancer Institute. We recognize and adhere to the WHO standards in cancer treatment, and our treatment programmes effectively:

  1. Are provided in an equitable and sustainable way
  2. Are linked to early detection and accurate diagnosis and staging
  3. Adhere to evidence-based standards of care

Ocean Road cancer Institute treatment programmes are offered in time, ethical, with no discrimination, all patients have equitable access to effective radiotherapy, brachytherapy, chemotherapy and anti-cancer drugs. Minimization of patient waiting time between treatment service points has been successfully with the increasing installation of state of art medical equipments and the overall availability of medicine. Cancer treatment at Ocean Road Cancer Institute is done through;

  • Radiotherapy
  • Chemotherapy
  • Brachytherapy
  • Palliative care

Detection

Cancer detection or diagnosis at Ocean Road Cancer Institute is done through standardized pathological, laboratory and radiological process which establishes with certainty that a client has indeed been affected by cancer The first critical step taken at ORCI in the management of cancer is to establish the diagnosis based on pathological examination. Obtaining a tumor sample is achieved through performing a biopsy or fine needle aspiration (FNA), other radiological imaging procedure may be required as an intervention to positively correlate with the pathological findings.

Pathology and laboratory medicine services performed at ORCI are essential to accurately analyse and interpret patient samples, thereby providing a professional guidance to the specialist who requested the diagnosis, and who will supervise the treatment and management of the patient.

We deem the detection process very critical in order to determine the patient stage, which is, the degree of tumor spread from the primary site. Staging is also very helpful in determining treatment choices.

Teaching

The Academic, Research and Consultancy Unit is a service section under the Ocean Road Cancer Institute that is responsible for training undergraduate and postgraduate students on cancer management, developing and evaluating research studies by students and other interested parties, developing teaching curricula and training programs on cancer management and providing consultancy services on the above. The unit is also responsible for publishing cancer research findings and managing library services. Currently, in collaboration with MUHAS, we offer the following courses;

  1. a MMED Clinical Oncology
  2. BSC RTT

The Department has worked on developing three new training programs, and we will soon start recruiting students for the courses:

  1. A two-year MSc Oncology Nursing program for graduate nurses that has been developed with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is being hosted by the MUHAS School of Nursing and supported by the University of California, San Francisco;
  2. A three-year MMed Nuclear Medicine program for medical doctors that has been developed locally with support from the IAEA; and
  3. A two-year MSc in Medical Physics program for physicists whose curriculum development is being supported by the Department of Medical Physics, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Through collaborations and exchange programs with foreign universities, both undergraduate and postgraduate students from Universities in Egypt, Malawi, Norway, the UK and the United States arrive at ORCI for clinical practicums, elective placements and/or research studies. Three staff members from the Unit have received training in clinical research through a collaborative project with UCSF. Additional clinical training sessions for nurses have been organized through visiting faculty from UCSF and the Royal Marsden Hospital, UK.

Prevention

Prevention approaches advocated at ORCI aims to reduce exposure to cancer-causing risk factors; and it is the greatest health gain and most cost-effective form of cancer control. Cancer is to a large extent avoidable. Many cancers can be prevented. Others can be detected early in their development, treated and cured. Even with late stage cancer, the pain can be reduced, the progression of the cancer slowed, and patients and their families helped to cope.

ORCI’s early detection and screening programmes for cancer is a well thought and incredibly organized which is specifically aimed at reducing the incidence or mortality of cancer through detection of lesions in precancerous or early stages.  With the directorate for cancer prevention and control, ORCI runs several clinics and programmes which have been designed to cater for both prevention, early diagnosis, mass awareness and vaccinations. The following are among of the programs conducted at ORCI cancer prevention and control directorate