Cutting-edge radiation facility reaches treatment milestone
A patient receives radiation treatment at Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center.
Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center announced on Tuesday that it has now treated a total of 5,000 patients, a new milestone for the medical facility.
The center, which uses cutting-edge proton and heavy ion beams to target and kill cancerous tissue without harming healthy tissue and cells, is the first of its kind in China and only the third in the world.
Officials said they have been streamlining medical processes to enhance treatment effects and efficiency. It took 30 months to treat the first 1,000 patients, while the second, third and fourth group of 1,000 took only 18.5 months, 15.5 months and 12 months, respectively. Moreover, the fifth group of 1,000 patients took just 11.5 months despite the serious impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As the city's COVID-19 resurgence has waned, the center's medical services continue to grow. In a recent week, the center treated more than 90 patients every day, and over 100 patients completed treatment and were discharged within a month, the most since the hospital opened in 2015.
Among the 5,000 patients treated, 2,602 have brain or neck cancer, 860 have chest cancer and 1,538 have cancer in the adominal and pelvic cavity.
The hospital treats more than 40 types of cancer but primarily targets brain, lung, liver, prostate, breast and nasopharynx cancers as six key cancers for clinical treatments and pancreatic cancer for key clinical research. More than 3,600 patients are involved in these key diseases, accounting for nearly 75 percent of all patients.
