HC Cancer Centre’s state of-the-art radiotherapy to fight tumours gently.

Coronavirus NAILS CHANGE

Emerging data suggest that the sequelae of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, covid-19, could vary in presentation and extend beyond the typical post viral recovery period.

A new study from the University of Bologna has looked at nails and small number of patients have noticed that their nails appear discoloured and slightly deformed weeks after the disease has passed.

The first symptom to appear is a convex red crescent-shaped mark on the whitest part of the nails, most of patients have noticed it in less than two weeks after being diagnosed.

The position at the birth of the nail, is exclusive to the coronavirus and therefore could function as an indication of the disease. Although this symptom has been detected in several people, it is not common. The cause of this crescent is unclear and have appeared even in asymptomatic patients.

Is is assumed this arises when the blood vessels get damaged by the virus, or that they are small blood clots as a result of the response of our immune system against the disease. In all cases they have only lasted between one and four weeks before disappearing.

In the more severe cases, patients have seen small negative bumps appear on their nails, approximately four weeks after the disease.They are called Beau's lines and they are not exclusive to COVID-19.

The number of patients who have presented these symptoms is relatively small and a clear connection between the symptoms and the coronavirus has yet to be found.

The most precise, safe and effective radiotherapy Gentle on your body, unrelenting on your cancer

The latest radiotherapy in Marbella

HC Cancer Centre’s

state-of-the-art radiotherapy to fight tumours gently.

Radiotherapy is a very effective treatment that has been used for more than 100 years which these days has been integrated into the multidisciplinary oncology care team. Radiotherapy aims to make a difference by controlling the disease progression and its symptoms. Two every three patients need radiotherapy at some point in the course of their illness.

The aim of radiotherapy is to cure the patients either on its own or in combination with other treatments. However, in recent years, thanks to the technological progress and the greater experience of the professionals involved, the main objective now is to reach a cure while producing minimal side effects. This means, to restore the patient to his or her normal state of health, and, if not possible, to take the patient to a new normality with the least possible symptoms.

The object is achieved using a more precise and better-targeted radiotherapy. At HC Cancer Centre we have a state-of-theart helical tomotherapy unit, which ensure that most of the radiation is delivered to the tumour with the least affection to healthy tissues.

Clinically this means that the patient will experience fewer side effects: less skin and mucosal damage, less fibrosis (hardening) of the skin, and in the long run, better preservation of bodily functions (swallowing, sphincter control (both rectal and urinary) as well as sexual function.

Each radiotherapy treatment implies a multistep process, beginning with the simulation, then the planning and finally the delivery.

Each step has its quality control levels. Nowadays most treatments require a daily image control to verify that the conditions remain the same. Our radiotherapy unit has a feature, unique in Spain which allows tracking of the tumour in real-time while taking into account organ movements so as to target the treatment with maximum precision. This allows us to deliver the treatments in fewer sessions with the same or better results. For instance, we have managed to reduce the prostate cancer treatment time from 35 to just 5 sessions.

For more than 20 years at HC Cancer Centre, we have been committed to the latest advances in both diagnosis and treatment of cancer. For this reason, besides all the therapeutic means available for the treatment of cancer, we have a new PET CT scanner that gives us a greater imaging accuracy, an essential feature to program a successful treatment in order to offer the best options to our oncological patients, adding not only years to life but also quality of life for years to follow.