Innovative cancer treatment center sets new monthly record
A cancer patient receives radiation therapy at Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center.
The Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center announced it set a new monthly record in August by carrying out radiation therapy and discharging more than 100 patients.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges, the center said the number of its patients increased by 3 percent in the first eight months of 2022 compared with the same period last year.
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.
To streamline the flow of service, the hospital introduced an outpatient reversion system supported by clinical assistants to guide each patient, boost Internet hospital services and carry out online consultations and multidisciplinary services.
By improving clinical processes and efficiency, the hospital reduced the average number of times patients need to receive radiation treatments from 21 in 2021 to 18 this year.
The hospital treats more than 40 types of cancer but primarily targets brain, early lung, liver, prostate and nasopharynx cancers as five key cancers for clinical treatments and pancreatic cancer for key clinical research.
The hospital has so far treated nearly 5,000 patients, including 3,200 patients with the six types of key cancers.
The center recently included breast cancer in its pool of key diseases.
Breast cancer is the most common female cancer in the world as well as in major domestic cities like Shanghai.
Radiation, which is precise, non-invasive and has low complications, has become an important therapy for women having breast-conserving surgery. So far, the center has used proton radiation on 345 breast cancer patients.
Among the 244 patients tracked for six months after treatment in the past two years, all have survived and 97 percent have had no further cancerous developments.
The center is partnering with the Shanghai Cancer Center to carry out research on proton-and-heavy-ion therapy for patients with complicated breast cancer to help them live longer, officials said.
