ELDORET, Kenya – The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) has successfully performed its first Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) procedure, marking a major leap forward in Kenya’s capacity to treat complex brain and spinal conditions.
The procedure was carried out on a 51-year-old woman diagnosed with brain metastases, secondary to breast cancer.
According to MTRH, the patient—identified as MW—has shown significant improvement following the treatment, which was delivered using the advanced Varian TrueBeam platform.
Stereotactic Radiosurgery is a non-invasive, high-precision form of radiation therapy that allows doctors to target tumours and abnormalities in the brain or spine without surgery.
Though called “surgery,” the procedure involves no scalpel or incision—instead, it delivers focused beams of high-dose radiation to destroy abnormal cells while sparing healthy tissue.
“This is a minimally invasive, non-surgical therapy that allows us to treat brain tumors, vascular abnormalities, and certain functional disorders with pinpoint accuracy,” said Dr. Jesse Opakas, Director of Hemato-Oncology at MTRH. “It’s particularly valuable for conditions that are difficult to reach or inoperable.”
The SRS procedure can be used to treat both benign and malignant brain tumors—including acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, and metastatic brain lesions—as well as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), trigeminal neuralgia, epilepsy, and movement disorders.
For MW, five sessions of SRS were required to target multiple metastases.
In many cases, SRS treatments last only 5 to 10 minutes, with most patients needing just 1 to 5 sessions.
Dr. Opakas noted that other systems capable of delivering SRS include Gamma Knife, CyberKnife, and charged particle accelerators, but praised the TrueBeam system for its speed, precision, and adaptability.
“This is not just a technological upgrade—it’s a transformation in how we deliver care,” said MTRH CEO Dr. Philip Kirwa. “SRS represents the future of oncology and neurosurgery, and we’re proud to bring that future to our patients.”
The addition of SRS expands MTRH’s growing arsenal of cancer treatments, which already includes techniques like Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), 3D Conformal Radiotherapy, Brachytherapy, and chemotherapy.
Crucially, the hospital confirmed that SRS procedures are covered under Kenya’s new Social Health Authority (SHA), ensuring accessibility for patients who need it most.
Dr. Kirwa thanked the Government of Kenya, Ministry of Health, MTRH Board, and staff for making the milestone possible, calling the investment “a big leap toward better patient outcomes.”
The successful introduction of SRS at MTRH signals new hope for patients with brain and spinal conditions that were once considered untreatable or too risky to operate on—especially in a region where access to advanced cancer care has historically been limited.
