Heavy Ion & Nuclear Medicine: New Hope for Cancer Patients

Heavy Ion & Nuclear Medicine: New Hope for Cancer Patients – Green Access Model Promotion Conference Held in Jiayuguan

At the foot of the Qilian Mountains, in the historic city of the Jiayu Pass, the Promotion Conference on the Green Access Model for Cancer Treatment Using China's Heavy Ion and Nuclear Medicine Technologies was successfully held in Jiayuguan City on May 31. Over ten medical experts from Jiayuguan City attended the conference. Media outlets covering the event included CRI Online, People's Daily Online, Xinhuanet, CNR Online, Phoenix New Media, Gansu Daily, and the Jiayuguan Integrated Media Center.

Cancer prevention and treatment constitute a vital health initiative for safeguarding public welfare. Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital has strategically established a comprehensive, high‑technology cancer diagnosis and treatment system covering the entire chain of nuclear medicine diagnosis, radionuclide therapy, photon radiotherapy, and heavy ion therapy, forming a system that is comprehensive, technologically leading, and distinctly characterized. The hospital promotes a full‑life‑cycle, holistic health management model based on heavy ion radiotherapy and radionuclide targeted diagnosis and therapy, integrating psychosomatic rehabilitation, sleep therapy, nutritional support, traditional Chinese medicine conditioning, rehabilitation physiotherapy, biological immunotherapy, and comprehensive cancer treatment. The hospital is committed to the mission of "gathering world‑leading technologies to benefit cancer patients everywhere" and envisions "becoming a destination for cancer patients worldwide to overcome the disease." By bringing together global expert resources, the hospital is effectively building a robust cancer prevention and treatment shield in Northwest China.

For a long time, the hospital has consistently regarded discipline development as the core engine of high‑quality growth, strategically establishing specialized advantage departments and focusing on cultivating three major brand diagnosis and treatment systems: oncology, digestive diseases, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, forming a well‑structured, complementary, and synergistic disciplinary cluster. Currently, the hospital has 6 provincial‑level key disciplines and 14 municipal‑level key disciplines, with 2 national‑level key discipline cultivation programs progressing steadily and achieving phased results. The hospital's specialized oncology diagnosis and treatment capabilities remain at the national advanced level. Concurrently, the hospital is deepening digital smart healthcare construction, strengthening whole‑process medical quality management, empowering diagnostic and treatment quality improvement through smart management, and safeguarding medical safety with closed‑loop quality control, laying a solid foundation for the standardized application of various new clinical technologies.

Aerial View of Wuwei Heavy Ion Center

Main Building of Heavy Ion Center

Wuwei Heavy Ion Center Outpatient Department

Wuwei Heavy Ion Smart Hospital Command Center

Taohuayuan Island, China Heavy Ion Health Town

In the field of nuclear medicine diagnostics, the hospital is equipped with a GE Discovery 710 Super‑Iterative PET‑CT. This device is the fourth PET/CT in Gansu Province and the only one in prefecture‑level hospitals across the province. Together with the GE Hawkeye 4 dual‑probe SPECT, the hospital has established a comprehensive nuclear medicine molecular imaging diagnostic system.

PET‑CT can be used for whole‑body precision cancer screening, differentiation of benign and malignant lesions, preoperative staging, monitoring of tumor recurrence, and evaluation of chemoradiotherapy efficacy. It enables specific targeted imaging of brain tumors, prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and gastrointestinal tumors. It also holds unique value in the early diagnosis of epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and severe heart failure. Gallium‑68 imaging is well‑suited for the diagnosis and quantitative assessment of advanced prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors, providing precise imaging support for lutetium‑177 therapy. SPECT can perform whole‑body bone scans, thyroid imaging, renal dynamic studies, myocardial perfusion imaging, parathyroid imaging, iodine‑131 scintigraphy, and hepatopulmonary imaging, providing reliable evidence for the diagnosis and standardized treatment of tumors and endocrine diseases.

PET/CT

SPECT/CT

Leveraging advanced equipment and an in‑house radiopharmaceutical preparation platform, the hospital has maturely implemented a range of radionuclide diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, including ¹³¹I therapy for hyperthyroidism, ⁹⁰Sr-⁹⁰Y radionuclide applicator therapy for keloids and hemangiomas, ⁸⁹Sr therapy for bone metastases, ¹²⁵I seed implantation therapy, ¹³¹I therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer, and ⁹⁰Y resin microsphere interventional therapy for liver cancer, benefiting over 10,000 patients. The hospital successfully performed the first domestically produced Yttrium‑90 microsphere interventional procedure for liver cancer in the Gansu‑Qinghai‑Ningxia‑Xinjiang region, marking a new era of precision radionuclide intervention for liver cancer. The upcoming clinical application of ²²³Ra therapy brings new hope to patients with advanced bone metastases; ¹⁷⁷Lu therapy will offer another major benefit to patients with metastatic prostate cancer. In the future, the successive implementation of novel targeted radionuclide therapies such as ²²⁵Ac targeted therapy and ²¹¹At astatine‑targeted radiotherapy will elevate radionuclide therapy in Gansu Province to a nationally advanced level.

¹³¹I hyperthyroidism treatment

⁹⁰Sr-⁹⁰Y nuclide application therapy

⁸⁹Sr Treatment of bone metastatic cancer

¹²⁵I seed implantation therapy

⁹⁰Y Resin microsphere interventional therapy

In the field of tumor radiotherapy, the hospital is equipped with a range of cutting‑edge devices, including the Varian VitalBeam medical linear accelerator, the Elekta Infinity four‑dimensional image‑guided linear accelerator, a Siemens 64‑slice dedicated radiotherapy simulation CT, a 3.0T magnetic resonance simulation positioning system, a Varian Iridium‑192 brachytherapy afterloader, and a helical tomotherapy system. These enable the routine implementation of advanced techniques such as image‑guided radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, three‑dimensional brachytherapy, and lattice radiotherapy. Relying on refined and individualized treatment planning, the hospital addresses a wide variety of clinical scenarios, including curative treatment for early‑stage tumors, palliative care for advanced disease, and management of complex and refractory tumors. Notably, emerging radiotherapy techniques such as spatially fractionated radiotherapy and lattice radiotherapy provide new strategies and technologies for large, advanced, and previously untreatable refractory tumors.

As the birthplace of domestically produced heavy ion technology and the "Jinggangshan" of ion radiotherapy in China, and as the only hospital in the world operating two heavy ion treatment systems simultaneously, the hospital has formed a dual‑center linkage structure with Wuwei and Lanzhou as twin hubs, creating an "integrated body with two wings" pattern. Leveraging nine world‑first or domestically first heavy ion cancer treatment technologies—including precision heavy ion therapy under ventilator control, bladder cancer treatment with precise bladder capacity management, and single‑fraction treatment using surgically implanted spacers between organs and tumors—the hospital has brought new hope to patients for whom conventional radiotherapy was ineffective. Due to its unique physical and biological advantages, heavy ion therapy is indicated for over 50 types of malignant tumors. To date, the Wuwei Heavy Ion Center and Lanzhou Heavy Ion Center of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital have successfully treated more than 2,800 patients from all provinces and municipalities across China, as well as from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and countries including Belgium, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, Jordan, and Serbia. For many tumor types, the treatment outcomes have surpassed the international level in this field.

To ensure that advanced medical technologies truly benefit more patients, Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital has innovatively established a full‑chain "medical + insurance + aviation" support system. In collaboration with China Life Insurance, the hospital has introduced a "million‑level medical insurance + green access channel for heavy ion therapy," providing up to 5.55 million RMB in medical coverage and one‑stop reimbursement services, thereby alleviating the financial burden on patients.

Nie Peng, Vice President of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital, hosting the meeting

Zhang Weihong, Party Secretary of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital, delivering a speech

Professor Ma Chengjun from Jiugang Hospital delivering a speech

Mr. Li Xibin, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Life Insurance Company Jiayuguan Branch, delivering a speech

Mr. Jiang Wei, Project Leader of the Million Medical Insurance + Green Life Access Channel for Heavy Ion Therapy (Wuwei Branch, China Life Insurance Company), explaining the exclusive insurance plan in detail

Ma Shuqian, Staff Member of the Organization and Publicity Section of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital, presenting on behalf of China Southern Airlines Group Cultural Media Co., Ltd. on High‑Quality Air Service for Green Access Medical Care

Ye Yancheng, President of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital, delivering a report on Clinical Applications of New Technologies in Heavy Ion Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment

Media Q&A · Expert Answers

The successful holding of this promotion conference not only allowed the people of the Hexi region to have an up‑close encounter with cutting‑edge cancer diagnosis and treatment achievements, but also opened a channel for bringing high‑quality medical resources to the public. Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital will remain steadfastly focused on the broader goals of health development, deeply cultivating medical expertise and committed service, and contributing with strong responsibility to the construction of a cancer prevention and treatment system in Northwest China, injecting powerful momentum into the solid and sustainable implementation of the Healthy China strategy.

Meeting Highlights

Writer: Guo Yishan

First Reviewer: Duan Shengyu

Second Reviewer: Guo Yishan

Third Reviewer: Cai Qinghua