Large-Fraction Heavy Ion Therapy (1–5 Sessions): Nationally First Implemented as Standard Practice
Nation's First: Routine Implementation of Large-Fractionation Technology with 1–5 Heavy Ion Treatment Sessions
In recent years, the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center at Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital has been dedicated to independent innovation and clinical expansion in heavy ion therapy technology. A clinical breakthrough—the nation's first heavy ion large-fractionation technology enabling treatment completion in 1–5 sessions—has been achieved. This technology compresses heavy ion radiotherapy, which originally required multiple sessions, into just one to five sessions. It not only offers precise and comprehensive treatment options for cancer patients but also marks a historic leap in China’s heavy ion medical technology from “running alongside” global peers to “leading the way.”
"Large-fractionation radiotherapy" significantly reduces the number of treatment sessions by increasing the dose per session while ensuring equivalent total biological effectiveness. The single-session large-fractionation therapy technology developed by the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center integrates this concept with the unique physical and biological advantages of heavy ions, resulting in four core strengths that usher in a new era of efficient, precise, and accessible cancer treatment.
The three core advantages of this technology:
- Efficient and Convenient Treatment, Greatly Improving Patients’ Quality of Life This technology compresses the traditional treatment cycle of several weeks into just a few days or even a single day, significantly reducing patients' travel time and costs, lowering non-medical expenses, alleviating physical and psychological burdens, and helping patients return to normal life more quickly.
- Unique Radiobiological Advantages, Activating Anti-Tumor Immune Potential High-dose irradiation delivers stronger killing effects on tumor cells, particularly those with weak repair capabilities. It also induces "immunogenic cell death" in tumor cells, stimulating the body's immune system to attack tumors and providing a new pathway for combined immunotherapy.
- Proven Clinical Efficacy, Now a Standard Treatment for Certain Tumors In treating early-stage lung cancer, liver cancer, sacrococcygeal chordoma, and other tumors, the local control rate is equivalent to or better than traditional radiotherapy, making it one of the international standard treatment options. It also shows promise for precisely eliminating oligometastases, offering a new curative option for patients who cannot or prefer not to undergo surgery.
As the only medical institution in the world operating two heavy ion treatment systems simultaneously, the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center at Wuwei Cancer Hospital leverages a "dual-center collaboration" development model. After years of research and innovation, it has overcome core technical challenges such as precise dose control and real-time tumor tracking. This technology fully utilizes the unique physical characteristics of heavy ions, such as the "Bragg peak," and their high relative biological effectiveness. It precisely focuses high-energy carbon ion beams on tumor targets, achieving "targeted destruction" of cancer cells by causing irreparable DNA double-strand breaks while minimizing radiation damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Combined with China’s first 360° rotating and height-adjustable ion therapy chair and magnetic resonance navigation tracking technology, treatment precision reaches the millimeter level, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of single-session high-dose irradiation.
Case Example:
Liu*, female, 62 years old.
Diagnosis: Secondary malignant tumor of the lung, pT0N0M1, Stage IV.
Auxiliary Examination: PET/CT on May 24, 2021, showed a mixed ground-glass density shadow in the upper lobe of the right lung with increased metabolism, suggesting pulmonary metastasis.
Treatment: Completed in a single session.
Clinical data show that this technology has been successfully applied to treat various malignant tumors, including lung cancer, liver cancer, and sacrococcygeal chordoma. It demonstrates significant advantages, particularly for complex cases where tumors are located near sensitive organs or are difficult to resect surgically. Compared to traditional radiotherapy, which requires 20–25 sessions, the single-session large-fractionation technology reduces the treatment cycle from several weeks to within one week using just one to five sessions. This not only significantly alleviates the burden of repeated hospital visits for patients but also reduces the risk of tumor cell repair and metastasis during treatment intervals. To date, the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center has completed nearly 2,400 heavy ion treatments, with the highest number of single-session large-fractionation cases globally, attracting patients from Belgium, South Korea, Malaysia, and other countries.
Looking ahead, the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center at Wuwei Cancer Hospital will continue to deepen technological innovation and clinical expansion, promote the widespread adoption and application of heavy ion single-session large-fractionation therapy across various cancer types, and extend the benefits of this original Chinese technology to more cancer patients worldwide. It aims to contribute the "Chinese Solution" and "Wuwei Strength" to building a global community of health for all.