The Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) yesterday announced its new Proton and Radiation Therapy Center — the first in the nation — is to begin official operations today.
Vice superintendent Hong Ji-hong (洪志宏) said that with the center beginning operations, Taiwan became the fourth nation in Asia to have proton therapy for cancer treatment, and the only one with a 360o gantry in the region.
At present, there are 49 proton therapy centers worldwide treating more than 100,000 cases, and clinical reports have shown that proton therapy is not limited to treating tumors in children, skull base tumors and eye melanomas, but also effective for treating liver cancer, oral cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer, he said.
The hospital began its first clinical trial on Sept. 1 last year — a 73-year-old woman surnamed Chen (陳), who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor 3cm in diameter growing in her liver, Hong said.
While conventional options for treating liver cancer include surgery or radiation therapy, the methods were not suitable for Chen, who has cirrhosis due to complications from hepatitis B, as well as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and coronary artery disease, he said, adding that the tumor was located next to a major blood vessel in the liver, so radiofrequency ablation was not an option either.
He said Chen eventually received 16 proton therapy treatments over three weeks, and a recent follow-up examination — one year after treatment — showed that the tumor had no new growth and no active cells.
Chen’s daughter said her mother did not suffer from any side effects during treatment or in post-treatment periods, leading Chen to ask medical personnel if they had really treated her tumor.
“Proton therapy reduces unnecessary side effects and provides more protection to organs, on top of having an increased therapeutic effect for certain types of cancers,” Hong said, adding that while the radiation dose area of conventional radiation therapy would have harmed about 40 percent of Chen’s liver, the radiation received from proton therapy was confined to a smaller area.
However, “proton therapy is not a cure for all cancers,” he said, as tumors with diffuse growth, multiple large tumors or tumors located in organs with unpredictable motion are not viable targets for the treatment.
Planning for the establishment of the center began 20 years ago, with construction started in 2011 and completed this year, Hong said, adding that the center is equipped with four proton therapy treatment rooms and 10 radiation treatment rooms, which are to treat about 1,300 and 3,000 patients per year respectively.
The center recently obtained a license to operate from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and so far 126 patients have consulted the hospital for proton therapy, of which 42 were assessed as suitable candidates for treatment, Hong said.
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