Treatment of 437 people, including 378 with prostate cancer…Additional rotary treatment unit to operate in the first half of next year
Severance Hospital will expand the scope of the heavy ion treatment device that has been in operation since last year and will also tackle head and neck cancer next year.
Severance Hospital announced this plan on the 19th by disclosing the status of cancer treatment using heavy ion therapy devices for the first time.
At the Yonsei Medical Center press conference held on this day, Director Geum Ki-chang said, “Severance Hospital is the first in Korea to introduce a heavy ion therapy device and is continuing to operate successfully.”
Heavy ion therapy is a type of radiation therapy using carbon particles. It is a treatment technique that targets and destroys only tumors (cancer cells) by accelerating carbon particles that are 12 times heavier than the hydrogen particles used in proton therapy. It is known to have a therapeutic effect (biological effect, cell killing ability) that is 2 to 3 times higher than that of existing radiotherapy, so it is called a ‘dream cancer treatment device’ to overcome incurable cancer.
The medical center currently has one fixed treatment device (fixed beam) and two rotating treatment devices (rotating gantry). According to the medical center, 378 people with prostate cancer have been treated with the fixed treatment device so far this year, and 59 people with pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer have been treated with the rotating treatment device.
It was also mentioned that individual patient treatment results were excellent. According to the hospital, the patient who was diagnosed with stage 2 prostate cancer and received heavy ion treatment in April last year had his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level drop from 7.9 ng/mL to less than 0.01 ng/mL, and the result of an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan. No cancerous tissue was found.
The rotary type has been in operation since May of this year. When a patient lies down in a rotary therapy machine, the machine rotates at the most appropriate angle and targets cancer cells according to the designed treatment plan. As irradiation becomes possible from any 360-degree angle, protection of normal organs and treatment accuracy for tumors can be maximized according to the anatomical location.
In particular, liver cancer is diagnosed late due to the inability to feel pain, and is initially diagnosed at an advanced stage. Additionally, liver function is reduced due to liver cirrhosis, so there is a high risk of hepatotoxicity due to radiation.
On the other hand, baryon therapy has the characteristic of focusing high-dose radiation only on cancer cells and avoiding normal cells, which can reduce side effects but increase treatment effectiveness. Heavy ion rays have a ‘Bragg Peak’ characteristic in which the radiation amount is low on the surface of the body and the radiation amount is maximum in cancerous tissue inside the body. The hospital explains that if the energy is controlled using an accelerator and the particles are stopped in the area where the cancer cells are, there will be no significant effect on normal cells, and side effects will be significantly reduced.
Director Geum Medical Center said, “There were almost no side effects in patients who completed or were receiving treatment.”
The hospital also announced plans to expand treatment. Director Geum Medical Center said, “If additional rotary treatment units are operated in the first half of next year, the treatment target can be expanded to more cancer types, starting with head and neck cancer.”
Meanwhile, other university hospitals in Korea are either in the process of introducing heavy ion therapy devices or are aiming to introduce them. Seoul National University Hospital has established the Gijang Intermediate Therapy Center in Busan and aims to open in the second half of 2027. Asan Medical Center in Seoul also announced in its New Year’s address that Director Park Seung-il was forming a practical support team and preparing to introduce a heavy ion therapy device.
Source: kormedi.com
