TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp said its board of directors would hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the planned sale of its medical equipment unit and announce the outcome "swiftly" if any decision is reached.

In a statement, the cash-strapped Japanese company said it had not yet decided on the likely buyer of Toshiba Medical Systems Corp, responding to a Nikkei business daily report that Canon Inc was the front-runner with a bid of over 700 billion yen ($6.2 billion).

People familiar with the process had told Reuters earlier Toshiba was poised to settle on a preferred bidder on Wednesday.

($1 = 112.5500 yen) (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Michael Perry)