"Heavy particle therapy" to accurately destroy tumors is gaining momentum! Is the "King of Cancers" also applicable to pancreatic cancer? Experts reveal 3 major features of heavy particle therapy
What are the principles and uses of heavy particle therapy? What are the advantages and limitations?
“Heavy particle therapy” can accurately attack inoperable malignant tumors. Will it be a new opportunity for cancer patients to survive? Yang Wanqin, the attending physician of the Heavy Ion and Radiation Oncology Department of Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said in an exclusive interview with “healthorn” that heavy particle therapy is a type of “radiation therapy” (commonly known as electrotherapy). Compared with traditional radiation therapy and photon therapy that use X-rays, Heavy particle therapy has the characteristics of greater lethality and fewer side effects, and has room for use in most solid cancer treatments.
Dr. Yang Wanqin pointed out that heavy particle therapy uses “carbon ions” (carbon ion beams) that are heavier than X-rays and are more destructive to tumor tissue than traditional X-rays. During traditional radiotherapy, normal tissues around the radiation path and behind the tumor may be damaged. Heavy particles themselves have the physical properties of “Bragg peaks”, which significantly reduce the radiation dose received by normal tissues in the path until the tumor It is released in large amounts only at the right location, reducing side effects caused by treatment.
Dr. Yang Wanqin said that traditional cancer radiotherapy requires about 20-30 times, usually 5 times a week, and the patient needs about 1-2 months of treatment, while a course of heavy particle therapy takes about 12-16 times, each time The treatment period is about 3-4 weeks, which is shorter than general photon therapy.
Which cancers are suitable for heavy particle therapy? How is it different from proton therapy?
“Heavy particle therapy has been developed in Germany and Japan for a long time. It has been more than 20 years since the invention of the treatment and its practical application. It is now a very common treatment in Japan and Europe, and Taiwan also completed clinical trials last year, and it is now a treatment that can be used routinely. Way!”
Dr. Yang Wanqin pointed out that heavy particles are applicable to many types of cancer, including lung cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, cervical cancer, head and neck cancer and other solid tumors, which are all within the indications of heavy particle therapy. In addition, although heavy particle therapy and proton therapy both have “Bragg peak” characteristics, which can reduce damage to normal tissues, heavy particles can achieve relatively better results for tumors that are insensitive to photon radiation, such as osteosarcoma and melanoma. therapeutic benefits.
However, the evidence for the indications of heavy particle therapy for brain cancer and breast cancer is not yet strong. Dr. Yang Wanqin pointed out that for breast cancer, most patients will first evaluate whether they are suitable for surgery, and then traditional radiation therapy will be recommended after surgery. Japan is currently developing whether heavy particle therapy is suitable for patients who do not want to undergo breast cancer surgery, but it is still only in the clinical trial stage.
Heavy particle therapy can treat pancreatic cancer with less damage to normal tissue?
After heavy particle therapy passes clinical trials, will it be the dawn of hope for patients with advanced cancer or “refractory” tumors in Taiwan? Dr. Yang Wanqin said that heavy particles are weapons for local treatment. When late-stage cancer has spread to multiple places throughout the body or has metastasized to distant sites, chemotherapy, immunity and targeted therapy are still the top priority. However, if the tumor cannot be operated due to reasons such as being too large, for example, pancreatic cancer tumors cannot be operated because they cover blood vessels, heavy particle therapy is another local treatment option.
Dr. Yang Wanqin pointed out that many patients with pancreatic cancer are inoperable when they occur. In the past, the standard treatment for such patients was chemotherapy combined with traditional radiation therapy. However, traditional radiation therapy may have the risk of damaging the surrounding gastrointestinal and normal tissues of the abdominal cavity. High doses cannot be given. Under radiation, the therapeutic effect is often limited, but heavy particle therapy can overcome this problem.
Can heavy particle therapy be combined with chemotherapy, immunity or photons? Future trends
Although heavy particle therapy has stronger tumor killing power and lower treatment side effects, due to the high cost of treatment equipment, it is relatively expensive. The cost of the treatment is estimated to be over one million, and it has not yet been included in the world’s standard treatment. . However, in the future, heavy particle therapy is expected to be paired with other treatment weapons for cancers that are more difficult to treat, becoming a new hope for cancer patients.
Dr. Yang Wanqin said that in the future, Taipei Veterans General Hospital will conduct research on heavy particle therapy combined with immunotherapy, chemotherapy and other methods. On the other hand, it also hopes to try to combine heavy particles with photon therapy, because the irradiation angle of photon therapy is more flexible, such as Some patients with head and neck cancer are worried about skin side effects when using heavy particle therapy, and are not suitable for irradiating the lymph nodes on both sides of the neck. Combining photon therapy and heavy particle therapy may be one of the development trends.
Dr. Yang Wanqin pointed out that the research on heavy particle therapy for cancer is still developing, and Taipei Veterans General Hospital itself is a comprehensive medical center with the characteristics of gathering the advantages of cross-specialty treatment. Under the comprehensive care of the cross-specialty team, it can Combining heavy particle therapy with cutting-edge immune drug therapy or immune cell therapy has the opportunity to improve the treatment effect and help more cancer patients who were considered difficult to treat in the past.
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