Taipei Veterans General Hospital said May 2 it plans to build a heavy ion radiotherapy treatment center, specializing in difficult cancer cases.
“Heavy ion radiotherapy is particularly suited to topical treatment of hard-to-reach tumors, or those that are too large to treat by conventional means,” said Chang Cheng-yen, head of TVGH’s Radiotherapy Division. “This is about 3 to 5 percent of all cancer cases, which equates to about 3,000 people in Taiwan per year.”
Heavy, or carbon, ion therapy involves accelerating a stream of charged carbon ions to near the speed of light and then firing them at the diseased tissue. The ionizing reactions selectively kill the cancerous cells.
Traditional ion radiotherapy uses protons, but the lower mass of the proton means they are more easily absorbed by other tissues and have less penetrating power. This produces side effects such as epidermal tissue fibrosis and bone necrosis, as well as making patients feel sick, Chang said.
“Patients usually have to rest after treatment. But with heavy ion therapy they are able to return straight to work,” he said.
TVGH is considering a build-operate-transfer to construct the treatment center at a projected cost of NT$4 billion (US$135 million) to NT$5 billion. It will be four years at the earliest before the center becomes operational, Chang said. (SDH)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw