Quirónsalud Torrevieja: 20 years as a benchmark in oncology treatment

Quirónsalud Torrevieja’s oncology department is celebrating 20 years as a benchmark in personalized oncology, offering services ranging from genetic analysis to immunotherapy.

The Oncology Platform of Quirónsalud Torrevieja celebrated two decades since its foundation by broadcasting a series of 8 talks between members of the oncology team and key people from social, business and government in the province of Alicante, such as: Eduardo Dolón, mayor of Torrevieja, Marcela Fernández, president of the Association of Entrepreneurs, Professionals and Managers of the province of Alicante (AEPA), Eva Toledo, president of the Circle-Directives of Alicante, Ángeles Serna, president of TM Real Estate Group, doctor José Manuel Ramia, head of the General Surgery and Digestive System Department of the General University Hospital of Alicante and the first Spaniard to hold the presidency of the Scientific and Research Committee of the Euro-African Society of Hepatobiliopancreatic Surgery, Victoria Meneses, president of the Association of Relatives and Cancer patients (AFECANCER), Amparo Navarro, rector of the University of Alicante and Herman Swcharz, president of the College of Physicians of Alicante.

The initiative started with a presentation video and meeting between Eduardo Dolón and Antonio Brugarolas. The rest of the meetings will be broadcast on a weekly basis and will take place throughout 2022 as Quirónsalud Torrevieja Hospital celebrates its 20th anniversary under the slogan “20 Years to Measure Life”. The campaign highlights that Quirónsalud is always at the forefront of treatments and techniques, and celebrates the adaptability of the Quirónsalud Torrevieja oncology team, always taking into account the needs of both cancer patients and their families. The oncology department boasts a pioneering model at a healthcare, technological and organizational level due to its ability to combine technological innovation with a human approach to medicine.

Within the plans, a series of themed health podcasts have been developed that will allow specialists to analyze and reflect on the links between oncology, technology and emotional assistance. In addition, an exhibition is planned that shows the human bonds established in the context of cancer treatments, among many other initiatives.

Milestones

Since its foundation in 2001, the Quirónsalud Torrevieja Hospital Oncology Department has distinguished itself by proposing an innovative approach in the healthcare model for cancer patients. Always putting the patient at the core of the treatment, it has been able to develop a pioneering way of working in which care integration is prioritized, aimed at the needs of the patient and supported by top of the range technological equipment.

Among the main milestones are:

• 2001. Teams began performing the technique of isolated limb perfusion in the treatment of tumours such as sarcoma, or locally advanced irrevocable melanoma.

• 2004. Incorporation of IORT or intraoperative radiotherapy in the operating room that eliminates or reduces external irradiation sessions.

• 2004. Start of the Genomic Diagnosis Unit and the Personalized Pharmacotherapy Unit for cancer patients.

• 2016. Start-up of one of the only two Clean Rooms in Spain dedicated to cancer treatment designed under international GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) quality criteria and intended for the production of advanced cell therapy drugs, such as vaccines with dendritic cells. The Clean Room is specially designed to obtain minimal or zero contamination levels where the so-called “advanced cell therapy drugs” are made.

• 2021. Quirónsalud Torrevieja acquires a new state-of-the-art linear accelerator for the treatment of all types of cancer with radiotherapy.

More than 120,000 patients have received treatment during the last 20 years and Quirónsalud Torrevieja is proud to have been able to help all of them, with “a paradigm shift in the field of care for cancer patients whose advantages and special characteristics have placed the platform as a pioneering project of international reference”, said to Dr. Antonio Brugarolas, director of the Quirónsalud Torrevieja Oncology Platform. 

New projects at the forefront of innovation

Immunotherapy. At Quirónsalud Torrevieja, individual tumors are studied on a regular basis as a diagnostic tool, designing specific therapeutic strategies with different degrees of clinical benefit for the patient in up to 70% of the cases studied.

Genetic advice. The analysis of gene expression allows experts to take an X-ray of genes to classify the disease and plan the most effective and least toxic treatment. The Quirónsalud Torrevieja Hospital Oncology department offers an alternative for patients with tumors resistant to chemotherapy and for whom it was considered that there was no longer any other treatment option.

Oncological surgery. The oncology department offers the most advanced techniques for the surgical approach to tumours such as HIPEC, radiofrequency tumour ablation, limb perfusion with TNF and Melphalan, and electrochemotherapy for the approach to skin tumours.

Personalized Pharmacotherapy. Personalized Pharmacotherapy is the specialized monitoring of oncological drugs, this involves the measurement and interpretation of drug concentrations in the blood in order to identify the effective and least toxic dose for each patient

The Quirónsalud Torrevieja Oncology department is at the forefront of private healthcare, offering the most advanced technology to its patients, such as Intraoperative Radiotherapy and the Varian TrueBeam 2.7 Linear Accelerator.