AVM & Neurosurgery. CyberKnife radiosurgery is a relatively new option for AVM patients, including those with spinal AVM, as it uses a large number of high precision radiation beams which can be molded to the shape of the AVM. Please visit the Cyberknife Page for more details, as much of the information there applies equally to AVMs and neurosurgery

Although these conditions are not cancer, many cancer centres also provide neurosurgical treatments and treat AVMs. Please visit the Cancer Centres page.

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Breast Cancer - Intraoperative Radiotherapy. Single dose intraoperative radiotherapy. Originally designed to treat brain cancer tumours, this is now finding a place with breast cancer. After a lumpectomy the patient usually has 4-6 weeks of precautionary eternal radiotherapy whereas in contrast intraoperative radiotherapy is delivered in as part of the lumpectomy, directly to the desired target areas.

For further information visit the intraoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer page. MHL currently features the following centers for breast cancer treatment. Radiotherapie Hirslanden and Huberts Wald Gynaecology and Breast Centre, Hamburg, Germany. Please visit our Breast Cancer page.

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Continence. A number of treatments are available depending on individual patients circumstances which include medication, instillation treatment of the urinary bladder. Injections treatment with botulinum toxin, pelvic floor therapy, urinary incontinence surgery and neurmodulation and neurostimulation.

Please view the continence treatment centres.

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Cyberknife Sterotactic Radiosurgery - various treatments and centres. CyberKnife is a precise, painless and non-invasive radiation treatment for cancer and neurosurgical treatments such as trigeminal neuralgia.

Please visit our
Cyberknife Sterotactic Radiosurgery page.

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Da Vinci 'robotic' Surgery. The system provides surgeons with powerful assistance in performing minimally invasive operations with great accuracy.

Please visit our Da Vinci 'robotic' Surgery pages.

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Eye Cancer. A new treatment for uveal melanoma has been developed in Munich, which can save removal of the eye (enucleation). This is often required in order to gain access to the tumour, but the European CyberKnife Centre is now providing radiosurgical treatments which avoid this necessity for some patients. Treatment is also offered by Proton Therapy.

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Fertility. MHL currently features the following for fertility treatments. New Jersey Fertility Centre, USA and The Lister Hospital, London, United Kingdom.

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Gastroenterology. MHL currently features the following centre for gastoenterology treatments. Details coming soon - 10-05-12

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Hubertus Wald Tumour Centre, Hamburg, Germany. Part of the University Medical Centre (UKE), Hamburg. UKE is a teaching hospital and is the largest hospital in Northern Germany. As part of this, the Hubertus Walk Tumour Centre offers a wide range of cancer treatments for adults and children.
The Gynaecology Clinic offers all subspecialties of gynecological surgery including gynecological oncology, surgical and conservative gynaecology, uro-gynaecology and endocrinology. For patients with advanced ovarian cancer the Clinic achieves higher rates of complete tumour excision and thus significantly longer survival than the average of all German hospitals.

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Heart - Niobe Magnetically Guided Heart Catherterisation. Heart centres around the world use catheterisation as part of both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and navigating through the body and into the heart using guidewires. Now the advanced software of the Niobe system uses magnetic guidance from outside the body instead of wires.
Visit the Heart Centres page for details of centres offering these and other cardiac treatments.

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Liver. MHL currently features the following centres for liver treatments. (Coming soon details of liver transplantation services).

CyberKnife Radiosurgery centres for liver cancer. Visit the liver cancer page of our dedicated CyberKnife web site.

Proton therapy centres for liver cancer. See our listing of proton therapy centres. Note: proton therapy can be applied wherever conventional radiotherapy can be used, but because the radiation is more closely focussed on the tumour(s) it greatly reduces the impact of radiation on sound tissue and it can sometimes be applied even after the patient has received the maximum conventional radiotherapy.

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Lung Cancer. MHL does not currently feature any specialist lung centres but we do feature cancer centres with the latest technologies, which may benefit some lung cancer patients.
CyberKnife Radiosurgery centres for lung cancer. Please see out listing of CyberKnife radiosurgery centres. Note: CyberKnife radiosurgery is only suitable for small, well-defined, early stage tumours in the lungs.
Proton therapy centres for lung cancer. Please see our listing of proton therapy centres. Note: proton therapy can be applied whenever conventional radiotherapy can be used, but because the radiation is more closely focussed on the tumour(s) it greatly reduces the impact of radiation on sound tissue and it can sometimes be applied even after the patient has received the maximum conventional radiotherapy.

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Neuropelvelogy concentrates on three different surgical approaches. Maximum preservation of the pelvic nerves in the case of radical surgery of the small pelvis. Minimally invasive pelvic nerve laparoscopy to determine the aetiology of pain the abdomen and pelvic cavity and optimal treatment, including neurosurgical procedures. Electrode implantation on pelvic nerves This laparoscopic method, which consists in implanting a neuroprothesis, is also called the LION procedure.
Because open surgery does not provide adequate access to the pelvic nerves, all these different treatments only became possible with the advent of lapaorscopy in general and pelvic nerve electrostimulation (LANN) in particular. This latter technique makes it possible to identify the function of a nerve during the course of surgery. Please visit our Neuropelveology Treatment Centres section of the site.

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Neurorehabilitation. MHL currently features the following centre for neurological rehabilitation treatments. Currently being updated May 2012

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Neuroscience and Neurosurgery include diseases of the brain, spine and central nervous system including wide ranging conditions such as arteriovenous malformations, epilepsy, brain tumours, spinal cord disorders, aneurysms, cavernomas and many more.
MHL currently features the following specialist centres


International Neuroscience Institute, Hannover, Germany
The multidisciplinary centre provides compassionate health care of the highest quality for diseases of the nervous system. Physicians in neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, ENT and orthopedics combine to treat patients with neurological disorders. INI offers a disease-specific, patient-focused approach to care.

Proton therapy centres for neurosurgery. Please see our listing of proton therapy centres. Note: proton therapy can be applied whenever conventional radiotherapy can be used, but because the radiation is more closely focussed on the tumour(s) it greatly reduces the impact of radiation on sound tissue and it can sometimes be applied even after the patient has received the maximum conventional radiotherapy.

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Obesity. MHL currently features the following centres for obesity treatments.
University Medical Centre (UKE), Hamburg, Germany. The Obesity Clinic offers drug treatments and operations, including bypass for severely obese patients over 60Kg/m2 BMI. These include gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, duodenal switch, biliopancreatic diversion and remedial operations with all of the back-up services of a major university teaching hospital.

Minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery is the norm and, wherever possible, single port techniques are used. These require only one incision, through natural body openings. This results in less postoperative pain and better cosmetic outcomes.

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Obstetrics and Prenatal Medicine. Twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is a disease of the placenta. It develops in identical twins during pregnancy because o the presence of connecting blood vessels between the two umbilical cords. There is a repeated transfusion of small amounts of blood between the two twins through these vascular connections. The Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome only affects identical twins who share a single placenta.

In contrast to Serial amnioreduction the advantage of laser therapy at UKE is how this form of therapy attempts the treatment of the underlying cause of TTTS by using the laser to occlude the connecting vessels, therefore stopping the blood flow between the donor and the recipient. Then an amnioreduction is performed.
Visit the Obstetrics Centres page for details of centres offering Laser TTS and other treatments.

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Oncology. Surgery is often the preferred approach where possible. This may be 'traditional' open surgery or minimally invasive, by laproscopic techniques. For some types of cancer such as prostate cancer, it may be possible to use image-guided 'robotic' surgery and a number of centres worldwide have invested in the da Vinci system. Radio-oncology.

Treatments now available include CyberKnife radiosurgery and proton therapy, both of which offer greater advantages over conventional radiotherapy. See the Radiation Therapies page for more details. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) uses precision focussed ultrasound waves rather than radio waves to locally heat the target area and destroy the tumour. Visit our Cancer Treatment Centres page which also covers centres offering radiotherapy or radiosurgery.

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Orthopedics - currently being up-dated May 2012

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Paediatrics. MHL currently features the following centres for paediatric treatment.


Hubertus Wald Tumour Centre, Hamburg, Germany is part of the University Hospital, Hamburg and the Clinic of Pediatric Haematology and Oncology is one of the largest clinics of its kind in Germany and in Europe. About 1,000 pediatric outpatients, both children and adolescents are treated every year and it employs 20 doctors, 23 nurses and a dedicated psychosocial team.

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Pancreas. MHL currently features the following centre for pancreas treatments.
University Medical Centre (UKE), Hamburg, Germany. The Pancreas Clinic at UKE is unique in Germany in offering a specialist, multidsciplinary approach to pancreas treatments. Led by Prof. Jakob Izbicki the UKE Pancreas Clinic is one of the leading research centres in the world in the field of pancreatic cancer. Fist the UKE Pancreas Clinic page.
In addition we feature the following centres for pancreatic cancer.

CyberKnife radiosurgery. Note: CyberKnife radiosurgery is only suitable for a limited number of cases of pancreatic cancer and it usually forms only a part of a wider treatment programme, where treatment is possible.

Proton therapy centres. Notes: proton therapy can be applied where conventional radiotherapy can be used, but because the radiation is more closely focussed on the tumour(s) it greatly reduces the impact of radiation on sound tissue and it can sometimes be applied even after the patient has received the maximum conventional radiotherapy.

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Prevention is better than cure and there are now many tests available that can detect diseases and dysfunctions at an early stage, when they are easiest to deal with. Prompt intervention, either by treatment or changes to lifestyle can be the key to better health and longer life.

Medical Prevention Centre Hamburg, Germany is part of UKE and also works in association with Dermatologikum Hamburg, a private treatment and research institute and one of the leading dermatological centres in Germany.

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Prostate Cancer. MHL is always seeking the best new treatments for prostate cancer as well as outstanding treatment centres to which patients can apply. Some of the treatments and technologies may not already be well known in some countries so we are pleased to provide an introduction here. We feature surgery, radiotherapy including Triology Radiotherapy and TomoTherapy Hi-Art System as well as Proton Therapy, Brachytherapy and High Intensity Focussed Ultrasound (HIFU).

Visit the Prostate Cancer Centres pages for details of all centers offering all or many of these treatments.

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Proton Therapy uses protons (hydrogen ions) instead of X-rays and these have considerably less impact on healthy tissue as they may their way to the tumour and deposit high doses and then almost no energy beyond. The dose is much more concentrated in the desired area so that potentially serious and distressing side effects which are common in some conventional radiotherapy treatments are greatly reduced.

Proton therapy can treat tumours where X-rays cannot be used because they would damage or destroy sensitive tissue beyond.

Proton therapy can deliver higher doses of radiation to stubborn, deep-seated tumours and the number of days required for treatment can be much less.
Finally, the danger of the radiation therapy itself causing cancers later in life is much less and for this reason proton therapy centres initially prioritised treatment of children but proton therapy is now available for adults too.

Visit the Proton Therapy Centres page.

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Radiation Therapy. Currently being up-dated May 2012

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Transplant. MHL currently features the following centres for transplant surgery.
University Medical Centre (UKE), Hamburg, Germany. The Clinic of Hepatobillary and Transplant Surgery offers interdisciplinary treatment of tumours of the liver, biliary tract and gall bladder and liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. It is led by Prof Bjorn Mashan and is the largest transplant centre in Northern Germany, with nearly 200 transplants performed.

Visit the UKE Transplant Clinic pages.

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Voice is an important part of life for most people, but it is especially important for public speakers, singers, actors, TV and radio presenters and for all those who use their voice professionally.
The Voice Clinic at UKE (Department of Voice, Speech and Hearing Disorders) specialises in diagnosis and treatment of all voice disorders. The medical team are dedicated otolaryngologists and phoniatricians (speech-language patholody and medicine), sub specialising in laryngology, phonosurgery and disorders and professional voice users.

Visit the UKE Voice Clinic page.

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