Brazil expands radiotherapy capacity with new linear accelerators

On 26 June, two public health facilities in Brazil inaugurated advanced linear accelerators for cancer treatment. The Santa Casa de Santos in the São Paulo coastal region opened a second radiotherapy unit equipped with a three‑dimensional image‑guided linear accelerator, a project funded by a parliamentary amendment from federal deputy Paulo Alexandre Barbosa. The new machine is expected to double daily patient capacity from about 65 to 130 and increase monthly sessions from roughly 1,200 to 2,400, reducing wait times for residents of Baixada Santista and Vale do Ribeira.

In Rio de Janeiro, the State Government delivered the Dr. Marcello Reis Radiotherapy Center at the Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer. The center’s linear accelerator, financed with R$ 21 million from FAPERJ as part of a R$ 32 million investment, will raise the institute’s radiotherapy throughput by about 150%, from 28 to up to 70 patients per month. The facility also includes a Gamma Knife for high‑precision neurosurgery. Both installations are integrated into the SUS system and aim to improve treatment outcomes and accessibility for cancer patients across Brazil.