- Present status and actual results
- R&D status in various countries
R&D status in various countries
Japan leads the world in the field of heavy ion radiotherapy
Japan has approximately 20 years of actual results of clinical research
From the late 1970s, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) in the US conducted pioneering research on heavy ion radiotherapy using a preexisting accelerator constructed for nuclear experiments (this research has now concluded). Subsequently, Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS: now QST hospital) started full-scale clinical research with the world's first system dedicated to heavy ion radiotherapy. About 43,000 patients (as of end of 2023) have been treated over approximately 25 years. Heavy ion radiotherapy has grown to be a highly effective, minimally invasive therapy, which is gaining recognition around the world.
An advanced medical technology, successfully developed in Japan for the first time in the world
The world’s first heavy ion radiotherapy using carbon ions was initially begun at the QST Hospital (former NIRS Hospital), National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Japan.
Japan’s heavy ion radiotherapy facilities successfully treated more than about 42,000 patients in the period from 1994 until end of 2023.
Heavy ion radiotherapy is a form of radiotherapy attracting a high level of interest around the world, and many institutions are considering the introduction of this treatment. Currently, in addition to QST hospital, there are 6 heavy ion radiotherapy centers are under operation like as Yamagata University EAST JAPAN HEAVY ION CENTER, Gunma University Heavy Ion Medical Center, Kanagawa Cancer Center i-ROCK, Osaka Heavy Ion Therapy Center, Hyogo Ion Beam Medical Center, Kyushu International Heavy Ion Beam Therapy Center (SAGA HIMAT) in Japan ; Heidelberg University in Germany; Institute of Modern Physics (Lanzhou), Liangzhou and Shanghai University in China; Foundation CNAO in Italy; and Med-Austron in Austria. Furthermore, Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan(2022) and Yonsei University in Koria(2023) are newly started introducing Japanese equipment.
Heavy ion radiotherapy facilities around the world (in operation or under consideration)
Inquiries
Please click here to inquire about heavy ion radiotherapy.
