Local hospital debuts radiotherapy department

Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital announced it is now equipped with a complete set of radiotherapy machines and treatments, the first maternity hospital with such capabilities in the city. Its radiotherapy department began trial operations on Tuesday.

Female cancer has become more prevalent, and there's an increasing number of young and middle-aged patients. According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the commonest female cancer in the world.

Endometrial cancer, a common cancer with poor treatment options, has become the sixth most common female cancer in the world. Its incidence rate has risen by 3.3 percent annually in the country over the past 20 years. In Shanghai’s urban areas, its incidence rate is 11.88 among every 100,000 women, making it the most common female reproductive system cancer in the city.

Annual cases of cervical cancer in China account for one third of the world's total. It's the most common gynecological cancer with a rising number of young patients.

Radiotherapy can streamline precise medicine and whole-process management and improve patients’ survival rates, said Wan Xiaoping, president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital.

Cancer treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. More than 70 percent of cancer patients require radiotherapy.

“Previously, women receiving cancer surgery in our hospital had to go to other hospitals for radiotherapy,” Wan said. “By creating our own radiotherapy department, patients have access to whole-process management and treatments for better and more precise medicine. It's also better for follow-up care.”