Current Status of the HIBMC, Providing Particle Beam Radiation Therapy for More Than 2,600 Patients, and the Prospects of Laser-Driven Proton Radiotherapy

Abstract

The Hyogo Ion Beam Medical Center was established in May 2001, a leading project of the ‘Hyogo Cancer Strategy’. As its major characteristic, both proton and carbon ion beams can be generated. The accelerator is a synchrotron that can accelerate proton and carbon ion beams at a maximum of 230 and 320 MeV/u, respectively, and the maximum ranges in water are 300 and 200 mm, respectively. Three irradiation rooms installed with 45-degree, horizontal/vertical, and horizontal fixed ports can be used for carbon ion radiation therapy, and 2 gantry rooms can be additionally used for proton beams. Particle beam radiation therapy had been performed in 2,639 patients as of the end of March 2009. The diseases treated were prostate cancer, head and neck tumors, liver cancer, lung cancer, and bone soft tissue tumors, in decreasing order of frequency, and these 5 major diseases accounted for 87% of the cases. The outcomes surpassed those of surgical therapy, realizing cancer therapy without resection. As the current problems of particle beam radiation therapy, the effect of the differential use of proton and carbon ion beams is unclear, adverse events, such as skin disorders, may occur due to the limitation of the broad beam method, and the necessity to install large-scale devices is an obstacle to its dissemination. We are aiming at the development and clinical application of a laser-driven proton radiotherapy device in cooperation with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.