To realize "three-dimensional directional blasting" to accurately kill tumor cells
Metro Express Newspaper: Tumor, as a kind of disease that seriously harms human life and health nowadays, is often feared by people. Under such circumstances, every additional means of treating tumors brings more hope to patients and their families.
Bearing the people's expectation of advanced technology for the treatment of tumors, Zhejiang Province's first heavy ion medical center, which integrates medicine, education, and research, has settled in the Cancer Hospital Affiliated to the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Provincial Cancer Hospital). Yesterday, the construction of this major medical construction project with an investment of 1.15 billion yuan officially started.
Heavy ion therapy is currently the most advanced technology in the field of radiotherapy
Shan Guoping, Director of Radiation Physics Department of the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), introduces that, at present, there are three main means of treating tumors - surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that the tumor cure rate is 55%, with surgery contributing 27%, radiotherapy 22%, and chemotherapy and other treatments 6%. "Surgery is still the preferred way to treat tumors, but for patients who are inoperable or refuse surgery, radiotherapy plays a significant role."
Director Shan mentioned that heavy ion therapy is actually a type of radiotherapy and is currently the most advanced technology in the field. The so-called heavy ion, is heavier than the periodic table of elements in the second element helium and ionized particles, such as carbon ions, neon ions, silicon ions, etc., it is a large amount of atomic weight, cell killing effect is also large. Currently, heavy ions used in clinical applications for radiation therapy are usually carbon ions. "Simply put, heavy ion therapy refers to a type of radiation therapy that accelerates carbon ions, which are invisible to the naked eye, to about 70% of the speed of light (about 210,000 kilometers per second) through a medical heavy ion gas pedal, and uses the formed beam stream of carbon ions to irradiate the tumor foci in order to destroy the cancer cells."
Compared with conventional radiotherapy
Heavy ion therapy for tumors is precise, more effective, and less damaging to healthy tissues
It can be a "three-dimensional directional blast".
Compared with the current widespread use of electronic, X-ray, gamma-ray and other radiation therapy, the advantages of heavy ion therapy are very obvious, mainly reflected in the accurate positioning, good therapeutic effect, and little damage to healthy tissue.
Conventional X-ray and gamma-ray radiation therapy is based on the principle of lens focusing, which focuses the energy of multiple beams of rays from all directions on the lesion to achieve the purpose of "killing" the tumor cells.
Why do we need multiple beams of radiation from all directions? Director Shan Guoping explained that the energy curve of conventional rays is roughly parabolic, with the increase in range, the dose of radiation will gradually decrease, in order to "kill" the tumor cells, a beam of rays is not enough, and need to come from all sides of the multi-beam rays, in order to ensure that there is enough energy at the lesion. However, this process will inevitably produce some damage to the normal tissues and sensitive organs around the tumor lesions.
"Heavy ion rays are different, releasing little energy before reaching the tumor lesion, but releasing a large amount of energy instantly after reaching the lesion, forming an energy release trajectory called 'Bragg peak'. A large amount of energy accurately 'three-dimensional directional blasting' in the tumor area, and after passing through the tumor tissue, the ray energy will be rapidly attenuated, so that the tumor will be accurately struck while the damage to the normal tissues will be reduced to a greater extent. At the same time, heavy ion therapy is based on single-beam rays, and the normal tissues are subjected to less radiation. In addition, from a biological point of view, heavy ion radiation can cause double-stranded DNA breaks, tumor cells are more difficult to repair themselves, compared with the traditional radiation caused by single-stranded DNA breaks, the possibility of tumor recurrence has become lower."
Of course, there may be patients who have the concern that after undergoing heavy ion therapy, there will be a lot of radiation to their families? The problem of radiation is not to be feared.
Heavy Ion Therapy for Choroidal Melanoma
Man Successfully Saves His Right Eye
Director Shan Guoping introduced, at present, there are three cities in China that have already carried out the heavy ion therapy, namely, Shanghai, Lanzhou in Gansu, and Wuwei in Gansu. The characteristics of heavy ion therapy with precise positioning, good efficacy and little harm to the surrounding normal tissues have undoubtedly brought more hope to many tumor patients. According to the relevant statistics of a domestic heavy ion hospital, in 4 years, the hospital admitted 1945 patients, and the 5-year survival rate after treatment reached 97.1%, and the local tumor control rate reached 81.8% in the past 5 years.
According to related reports, last year, a domestic heavy ion hospital through heavy ion therapy, for a male patient suffering from intraocular malignant tumors to save the right eyeball.
In the first half of last year, the patient, Mr. Wu (a pseudonym), had a sudden and rapid decline in vision in his right eye, and ultrasound diagnosis and magnetic **** vibration examination suggested that there was a substantial intraocular space in the right eyeball, and the posterior pole part of the retina was detached, which was finally diagnosed as choroidal melanoma. Choroidal melanoma is a primary intraocular malignant tumor, which is prevalent in middle-aged and elderly people, and in order to completely remove the tumor, a large proportion of patients need to undergo ophthalmectomy. At that time, the doctor then recommended him to do eye removal or preservation of the eyeball radiation therapy.
Mr. Wu could not accept the removal of his eye, and radiation therapy would inevitably cause some damage to the crystalline lens of the eye, affecting his vision. In order to minimize the damage to the eye, Mr. Wu went to a heavy ion hospital in China to seek heavy ion treatment.
After receiving a single course*** of 5 heavy ion treatments, Mr. Wu recovered well and was successfully discharged from the hospital, preserving his eyeballs for the purpose of treating the tumor and minimizing the impact on his vision.
Not all malignant tumors are suitable for heavy ion therapy
Mainly for early and mid-stage solid tumors
What kind of tumors are suitable for heavy ion therapy? Director Shan Guoping mentioned that the scope of heavy ion therapy is relatively wide, such as:
1. Central nervous system tumors: meningioma, pituitary tumor, acoustic neuroma, astrocytoma, etc.
2.
2. Skull base tumors: chordoma, chondrosarcoma and so on.
3. Head and neck tumors: nasopharyngeal cancer, oral cavity cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma and so on.
4. Thoracic tumors: lung cancer, esophageal cancer, thymoma and so on.
5. Abdominal and pelvic tumors: liver tumor, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, recurrent rectal cancer and other unresectable pelvic tumors.
6. Other tumors: breast cancer, bone and soft tissue sarcoma.
"However, heavy ion therapy is not applicable to all malignant tumors. Since the essence of heavy ion therapy is radiotherapy, which is a localized treatment, it is generally more applicable to solid tumors in the early to mid-stage that do not have multiple metastases throughout the body. If it is an advanced cancer with extensive systemic metastases, even if you do heavy ion therapy, it is only palliative treatment and there is no way to play a curative role." Director Shan Guoping said that as a type of radiotherapy, heavy ion therapy is like shooting arrows, which needs to be targeted, and if it is a non-solid tumor such as leukemia, then it is not very suitable for this type of treatment. In addition, tubular organs with thin walls that repeatedly undergo irregular peristalsis are not candidates for traditional radiotherapy, and again, these organs are not suitable for heavy ion therapy.
The project is located in the Cancer Hospital of National University of Science and Technology
To fill the gap of heavy ion radiotherapy equipment in Zhejiang
To show the "important window" of the prevention and treatment of cancer. "
As the world's largest medical equipment device, heavy ion equipment, unlike CT, nuclear magnetic **** vibration and other equipment, only need a room can be accommodated. The original heavy ion equipment was as big as a soccer field, and even now with the improvements, the circumference of the largest set of magnet rings is still 56 meters long, requiring a very large space to accommodate.
It is understood that the NUST Cancer Hospital Heavy Ion Medical Center has a total construction area of 14,000 square meters, of which the ground floor area of 7,954 square meters, underground construction area of 6,046 square meters. The main construction content of the project is to build a new underground 2-storey, 3-storey heavy ion medical center building, including heavy ion equipment rooms and ancillary process rooms, medical and technical rooms, security systems, administration and management. The total investment of the project is about 1.15 billion yuan, and the planned civil construction period is 18 months.
Cheng Xiangdong, Party Secretary of NUST Cancer Hospital, said that the hospital's heavy ion medical center is the specific implementation of the cooperation agreement between the National Health and Health Commission and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province signed in 2019 *** to build a national regional medical center, and under the opportunity of the commission and the province *** to build, the hospital and the province, the building of the heavy ion medical center will be assembled with the optimal independently researched and developed by the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The most safe and advanced heavy ion therapy device system independently developed by the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
After the completion of the project will fill the gap of heavy ion radiotherapy equipment in our province, enhance the ability to diagnose and treat difficult diseases in the direction of tumors, to meet the health needs of the people, to accelerate the construction of medical peaks in our province, so as to better meet the health needs of the people, is of great significance to the medical and health care reform of Zhejiang Province, and even the Yangtze River Delta and the development of health care industry will have a positive impact.