Cuttack, Jan. 9: Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC) has installed an advanced cancer treatment device called linear accelerators (Linac).

"We have installed two Linacs along with computerised tomography (CT) simulator and CT scan by spending Rs 50 crore. These will shortly be ready for treatment," said the cancer centre's director Lalatendu Sarangi.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is expected to inaugurate the device shortly.

"Radiotherapy is a major treatment to cure or control cancer. Linacs are important to identify the damaged cells and apply radiotherapy to kill cancer cells without destroying the healthy cells," Sarangi said.

At present, very few private hospitals in Bhubaneswar have the facilities. Each radiotherapy session with the device costs about Rs 4,000. A cancer patient needs 25 to 30 sessions on an average.

However, Sarangi said that the government was yet to fix the charges for availing the advanced medical facilities.

The cancer centre has so far been using cobalt machines for radiation that are more than 15 years old and are not as precise as Linacs.

Oncologists welcomed the installation of the state-of-the-art devices at the state's premier cancer hospital.

"The Linacs help radiologists deliver localised radiation to cancer cells, while saving the healthy tissues," said a cancer specialist working with the cancer centre.

The 240-bed hospital caters to thousands of cancer patients from the state and also from neighbouring states, such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bengal.

Around 25,000 patients come to the hospital for treatment every year. Of them, around 10,000 patients get admitted to the cancer centre every year.