Chinanews.com, Lanzhou, March 13 (Wei Jianjun, Ai Qinglong) China's first carbon ion therapy system with independent intellectual property rights is about to reach its "year old" when it is put into clinical application. At present, a total of 269 patients have been treated.
Ye Yancheng, director of Wuwei Cancer Hospital in Gansu Province, said that he has used real cases to tell everyone that many patients have been treated, and the number of treatments is the same as that of several heavy ion centers around the world, and the level is comparable.
Carbon ion is a kind of heavy ion suitable for the treatment of tumors.
Carbon ion therapy technology is recognized by the international medical community as one of the most ideal tumor treatment methods. It can be widely used in various solid tumors that the surrounding normal tissues can tolerate. It is also suitable for cases that are resistant to conventional radiotherapy and are difficult to control, or are unwilling. , Patients who are inconvenient to undergo surgical treatment.
The picture shows the doctor locating the patient’s tumor in the simulated CT room.
Photo by Wei Jianjun
Break the international monopoly of high-end medical devices
This is the most advanced technology in the field of radiotherapy in the world. Germany, Japan and the United States have relatively developed heavy ion technology, and most of the domestic patients choose to be treated in these three countries.
Previously, this technology was monopolized by foreign countries for many years.
Since 1993, the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successively built multiple generations of large-scale heavy ion accelerator devices. Through advanced accelerator technology and nuclear detection technology research and development, heavy ion beam therapy-related biological basic research and pre-clinical research, China has become the fourth in the world. A country that has achieved clinical treatment of heavy ion beams.
China has also independently innovated and completed the overall software solution for heavy ion radiotherapy, breaking the international monopoly of high-end medical equipment.
In March 2020, it was successfully applied to the clinical treatment of the Wuwei demonstration device, and it was put into commercial operation.
"There are two modes of active point scanning and passive point scanning, and some countries only have one." Ye Yancheng said.
According to reports, there are more than 4 million new cancer patients and more than 2 million deaths each year in China, and 80% of the patients are in advanced stages when malignant tumors are discovered.
"These 208 patients are lucky. Not all tumor patients are suitable for heavy ion therapy." said Chen Dongji, chief physician of the Second Department of Radiotherapy, Wuwei Cancer Hospital, Gansu Province.
Chen Dongji said that in general, tumors suitable for ordinary photon radiotherapy are basically suitable for heavy ion therapy, with small side effects, short course of treatment, and good curative effect. It is especially suitable for parts that are not suitable for surgery, are not sensitive to conventional radiation, and recur after conventional radiation treatment. Solid tumor treatment.
But he said frankly that heavy ion radiotherapy is not suitable for systemic malignant diseases, such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, etc., "the position of the tumor is not fixed and cannot be accurately located", and extensive tumor metastasis has occurred in distant organs. , Patients who have received 2 or more radiotherapy treatments at the same tumor site are not suitable for heavy ion therapy.
The picture shows the doctor further locking the position of the tumor.
Photo by Wei Jianjun
Launching precise "missiles" at tumors does not hurt "innocents"
"Traditional radiotherapy rays passing by will damage normal tissues,'kill a thousand enemies, self-damage 800', and heavy ions have almost no side effects."
Ye Yancheng told reporters that heavy ions can “run” up to 70% of the speed of light. The medical heavy ion treatment device uses high-speed carbon heavy ions to pass through normal tissues and launch precise targeted “missiles” at tumors to release energy and kill tumors in the body. Cells, without "injury to the innocent", the prerequisite for achieving this effect is precise positioning.
The reporter walked into the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center of the hospital, and Chen Dongji was treating a patient in Hebei.
After the patient is admitted to the hospital, he first enters the simulated positioning CT room to "locate" the tumor. Where is the tumor in the human body?
What shape is it?
The simulated positioning image is then transmitted to the physical planning system, where the senior physician and physicist jointly evaluate and confirm the treatment plan.
Then, the doctor outlines the tumor and normal organs based on CT images, which is equivalent to setting a "target area."
Next, the physicist intervened, based on the lesion and the established bio-mathematical model, and according to the doctor's prescription, accurately calculated the dose, irradiation method, intensity, and number of divisions of the carbon ion beam, thereby formulating a "strike plan."
According to the "plan", doctors and physicists will perform verification tests on the planned irradiation position and dose until the irradiation position is consistent with the patient’s lesions, and the irradiation dose is consistent with the prescribed dose, and then the upper-level physician physicist will review and approve the test. Heavy ion radiotherapy.
Review during the treatment process, and decide whether to change the plan based on changes in the condition.
The physicist is a very important member of tumor radiotherapy. Without sufficient physical support, it is impossible to provide patients with high-standard treatment and services. The physicist must lead the work of the physics group to correspond to all the physical data and services used by the patient. The process is responsible.
The physicist also has an important task, which is to ensure the quality of the treatment plan.
The picture shows the doctor explaining the principle of heavy ion therapy.
Photo by Wei Jianjun
High cost advice to include medical insurance
At present, there are two domestic heavy ion centers that can be used for treatment. One is in Shanghai, which introduces a full set of foreign technology; the other is in Wuwei, which is a domestic independent intellectual property system, but both equipment investment funds are huge, up to With hundreds of millions or even more than one billion yuan, the maintenance cost is also extremely high. Therefore, the treatment costs are relatively high.
According to statistics, the cost of proton heavy ion therapy in the United States is about 800,000 to 1 million yuan, and that in Japan is about 400 to 500,000 yuan.
The Shanghai fee is 278,000 yuan, plus other diagnostic fees, inspection fees, medicine fees, hospitalization fees, etc., which will cost a total of about 400,000 yuan, and the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center fee is 200,000 yuan, but this is the starting price.
For example, Chen Dongji said that if a patient with brain metastases from lung cancer requires precise treatment for both the primary and metastatic lesions, a course of treatment for the primary lesion (regardless of the number of times, charged according to the site) will cost 200,000 yuan, and a metastatic site plus 100,000 yuan will be charged. In a situation like this, the patient’s treatment would cost 300,000 yuan, and so on.
One of the goals of China's cancer control action is to increase the overall 5-year cancer survival rate in the country to no less than 46.6% by 2030.
The number of incidences and deaths of domestic malignant tumors remains high each year, while cancer treatment technology is relatively backward, and the lack of advanced treatment methods is the primary factor restricting the improvement of the survival rate of cancer patients.
In order to solve the contradiction of insufficient supply of domestic high-end malignant tumor treatment technology, provide effective treatment for typical refractory tumors, and improve cancer survival rate, Cai Xiaohong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a researcher at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, also suggested that some tumors should be reproduced domestically. Ion therapy is included in medical insurance.
Ye Yancheng revealed that the hospital has cooperated with China Life Insurance Company to launch heavy ion medical commercial insurance, allowing patients to share the results of national basic scientific research, enjoy high-tech medical technology, and effectively prevent family financial constraints caused by tumor diseases and prevent illnesses. Poverty and return to poverty occur.
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