Taiwan’s 1st proton therapy center opens in New Taipei

2015/11/12

Taiwan’s first proton and radiation therapy center was inaugurated Nov. 10 at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou District, New Taipei City, raising the bar for cancer treatment in the country.

The NT$5.4 billion (US$165.1 million) facility boasts four proton treatment and 10 X-ray treatment rooms, and is capable of providing linear accelerator treatment to 3,000 and proton beam treatment to 1,500 patients annually, according to CGMH.

Dr. Hong Ji-hong, vice president of the hospital, said proton therapy is one of the world’s most advanced and precise medical procedures designed to fight cancer.

“By utilizing a pencil-thin proton beam, the equipment can accurately target a tumor without damaging normal tissue,” he said. “The energy will only be released as it reaches the desired depth of the targeted site to kill off cancerous cells.”

In clinical trials, the therapy proves especially efficient when dealing with undisseminated local tumors, particularly skull base and paraspinal tumors, uveal melanomas and unresectable sarcomas, Hong added. A 30-minute proton therapy treatment session costs approximately NT$21,000.

At present there are only 50 such facilities globally, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Taiwan is the 16th country worldwide and the fourth in Asia to provide proton therapy services, after Japan, South Korea and mainland China.

MOHW Department of Medical Affairs Director Wang Tsung-hsi said there are six other hospitals mulling or constructing proton therapy centers in Taiwan. They are CGMH’s Kaohsiung branch and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital in the south, Changhua Christian Hospital and China Medical University Hospital in central Taiwan, and National Taiwan University Cancer Center and Taipei Medical University Hospital, both in Taipei City.

Given the robust development of medical particle treatment facilities in Taiwan, Wang said the ministry has devised legislation to regulate the expansion of the service. The details of the management act are slated to be announced Nov. 12.

“While providing highly competitive services to cancer patients from around the world, these facilities will be required to offer more affordable packages to minority and economically disadvantaged patients as well,” the director said.

“We expect the new headway in proton therapy to strengthen Taiwan’s lead on the front line of global oncology sciences while ushering in a new era of inclusive and humanistic medical services.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=238742&ctNode=2194&mp=9)