Li Zongwei, I believe everyone is no stranger, he is a famous badminton player in Malaysia, and Lin Dan has been in love and killing each other on the field for many years.
In September 2018, Li Zongwei temporarily withdrew from the international competition due to the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer. Over the next six months, he underwent 33 proton treatments, each lasting 25 minutes. Because of the treatment, his throat was all broken, and eating was like a punishment for him, and he shed tears every time.
Not only is the treatment painful, but the cost of treatment is staggering. It is reported that Li Zongwei's entire treatment cost a total of nearly 10 million yuan, which is obviously unbearable for ordinary people.
While everyone was surprised by the cost of treatment, they were also very interested in the treatment of Li Zongwei's nasopharyngeal cancer, what is proton therapy? Is it really that good? How much does it cost? Today I will give you an answer one by one
Proton therapy: the most advanced radiotherapy technology in the world
Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are called the three major treatment methods for tumors, and proton therapy is one of the radiotherapy. Protons are positively charged, through the electric field to promote the high-speed movement of protons, the principle of treatment is to accelerate the proton to about 70% of the speed of light, so that ion rays are drawn out, accurately shot into the tumor site, to achieve the purpose of killing cancer cells. At present, proton heavy ion technology is recognized as the most advanced radiotherapy technology.
Compared with traditional radiotherapy, proton therapy has the following three advantages.
Precision strike: Compared with ordinary radiotherapy, X-ray, γ-ray and other photon irradiation, proton therapy particle rays can hit tumor lesions more accurately and cause less damage to surrounding tissues.
High cure rate: The particles used in proton therapy are more massive, which can kill tumors fatally, and have a high cure rate.
Small side effects: Proton therapy belongs to the painless, non-invasive treatment mode, the damage to the normal tissues around the tumor is almost 0, which can protect the surrounding important tissues and organs, and the side effects and treatment pain are smaller.
2. Who is suitable for proton therapy?
Proton therapy is favored by some tumor patients with the advantage of small side effects, and currently shows good results in some types of tumors. But it is not a miracle drug, not suitable for everyone, proton therapy can be used for the treatment of head and neck tumors, glioma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, children's tumors, etc., but for extensive metastasis throughout the body, blood tumors and gastric cancer, colorectal cancer and other hollow organ tumors, proton therapy is difficult to play a good role.
So what are the current charges? Chen Ming, director of the Department of Radiotherapy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Hospital, said that at present, 16 hospitals in mainland China, including Tianjin Cancer Hospital and Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, have obtained proton device configuration certificates. And most of the device work has been completed, and some have already entered clinical trial work.
As for the cost, Professor Chen Ming said that it is not as expensive as it is reported on the Internet, and it is generally about 270,000 yen for a radiotherapy course and about 3 million yen in Japan.
3. Good news! Domestic anti-cancer "sharp weapon" was approved for marketing
The domestic proton therapy system jointly developed by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute and Aiptron Particle Equipment Co., Ltd. has completed proton therapy for 47 subjects, and the 3-month follow-up results show that the tumor control rate of patients has reached 100%. About half of the patients have completely disappeared the tumor lesions, and the biochemical recurrence rate of prostate cancer has reached 100%.
On September 26, 2022, the proton therapy system was approved for marketing by the National Medical Products Administration, and the device is the first domestic proton therapy system, consisting of two parts: accelerator system and treatment system. It is used for the treatment of systemic solid malignant tumors and certain benign diseases.
The listing of domestic proton equipment means that mainland proton therapy is no longer dependent on imports, and patients can also enjoy international cutting-edge radiotherapy technology at their doorstep, and the cost will be greatly reduced.
Proton therapy can play a good therapeutic role in suitable cancer, but it cannot be blindly trusted, and whether it is suitable for treatment needs to be determined by professional doctors.
Resources:
[1] "33 proton treatments cost nearly 10 million? Li Zongwei came back and said that cancer cells were completely eliminated! What's so amazing about this treatment? What cancers are applicable? 》. Urban Express.2019-03-15
[2] "Precise "blasting" cancer cells! Which cancer patients is proton therapy suitable for? 》. Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital.2022-04-14
[3] "Proton Information--Excellent Case Display of the First Proton Therapy Device in China". Department of Radiotherapy, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital.2023-08-07
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