The current role of Cobalt-60 teletherapy in cancer care

Abstract

Cobalt-60 teletherapy for cancer treatment is becoming less common. It is due to advances in Linac technology, such as beam collimation, conformal radiation therapy, and intensity modulation. Despite this, most developing countries rely on Cobalt teletherapy because of low prices, scarcity of skilled medical professionals, and uncomplicated treatment procedures. The goal of this study was to see how Cobalt teletherapy is used in cancer care around the world right now—the IAEA-DIRAC database to gather information for this investigation. Nearly every country has some radiation facility in the DIRAC areas. Other data gathered for all countries in DIRAC regions included the number of teletherapy machines and each country's population and income group. For every DIRAC region (high income, upper middle income, lower middle income, and low income), this chart information shows how many megavoltage treatment units are currently available. Within each income bracket, linear accelerators and Cobalt teletherapy machines were distributed in 2006, 2013, and 2020, respectively. Around the globe, there are currently 1766 Cobalt teletherapy units available, or 12.7% of all available external beam radiotherapy machines. The majority of Cobalt teletherapy units located in developing countries are about to 86 percent. Megavoltage machine per million people varies widely around the world. Currently, there is a 0.12 to 9.11 megavoltage machine per million population range available, which is supplemented by 0.04 to 1.41 from Cobalt teletherapy. Even though there is a declining trend, the use of Cobalt teletherapy is unavoidable in low- and middleincome countries to manage the increasing number of new cancer cases.