Carbon Ion Radiotherapy at NIRS-HIMAC Original Research Article

Carbon ion radiotherapy has been conducted since 1994 at National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan, with beams from Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba. Accumulated number of patients treated will become more than 5,000 by the end of this year. The tumor sites with more than 200 treated patients include Prostate, Lung, Head and Neck, Bone and Soft Tissue, and Liver. The experience of 15 years can be summarized as that carbon ion therapy has established efficacy in treatment of tumors, especially so-called ‘radio-resistant’ ones and including ‘inoperable’ cases. Reduction of fractionation, and thus treatment period, is another important achievement which can benefit patients in many ways. Recent development of the therapeutic system in order to advance more efficient and patient-friendly treatments will be presented also.