Nation's first children's proton therapy center in the works
A strategic agreement was signed at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University today to build the nation’s first children’s proton therapy center.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death for Chinese children, 22,000 of whom are diagnosed with the disease every year. Moreover, the prevalence of cancer among children younger than 14 has risen by 2.5 percent annually over the past 10 years.
Proton treatment, a high-end radiotherapy that uses cutting-edge proton beams to target and kill cancerous tissues without damaging healthy cells and tissues, is highly precise and improves children's five-year survival rates.
However, the technology has not been widely used in China, and current proton treatment centers either under operation, in planning or under construction are geared toward adults. Chinese children with cancer have had to go abroad for proton therapy or receive chemotherapy or traditional radiotherapy. What's more, there's a huge shortage of proton therapists, technicians and pediatricians in the field across the nation.
To make proton therapy for Chinese children more accessible, the agreement to create the nation’s first children’s proton therapy center was signed today between Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Fosun Healthcare (Group) and America's Mevion Medical Systems for proton treatment, scientific cooperation and professional training.
The proton center will be located at StarKids Children’s Hospital Shanghai, which is also the New Hongqiao branch of the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University. The new hospital will open this year.
“We want to improve treatment of children’s cancer through this agreement, and bring high-end therapy to more Chinese children to achieve precise and high-quality care,” said Dr Huang Guoying, president of the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University.
Dr Zhang Zhen, director of Shanghai Cancer Center’s radiotherapy department, said proton therapy has very positive results on children with brain and stomach cancer.
Officials from the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Fosun Healthcare (Group) and America's Mevion Medical Systems signed strategic collaboration at the hospital today to jointly build the nation's first children's proton therapy center.
