A medical group in Morocco says it has performed a new type of tumour treatment for the first time in Africa.
The procedure took place on Thursday at Clinique Le Littoral Ain Diab, part of the Oncorad Group.
Doctors used a step-by-step method that combines advanced medical imaging with a minimally invasive procedure to find and destroy a tumour.
The first patient treated had a tumour in the shoulder blade.
Doctors first used a high-precision PET scanner with artificial intelligence to locate the tumour very accurately. An interventional radiologist then destroyed the tumour using cryotherapy, a technique that freezes and removes abnormal tissue.
During the procedure, a nuclear medicine specialist monitored the images in real time to make sure the tumour had completely disappeared.
The operation was carried out by a team including interventional radiologist Alae Mrani Zentar, nuclear medicine doctor Younes Shimi, and anaesthesiologist Kamal Belkadi.
Dr Mrani said the technique could help treat tumours with greater accuracy while avoiding major surgery.
Oncorad Group was founded in 2000 by Redouane Samlali and Omar Hajji.
The group started as a cancer treatment centre and has since expanded into a larger private healthcare network offering services such as robotic surgery, neonatal intensive care and advanced radiotherapy.
