13 Months, 500 Patients: A Major National Technology Brings New Hope to Patients with Cancer
"In 2021, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and fell into despair. Fortunately, Ruijin Hospital's domestic proton therapy system was recruiting volunteers for clinical trials. I signed up without hesitation and became the first prostate cancer patient to benefit. The treatment process is painless and non-invasive, and the medical team is professional and meticulous. The reexamination results over the past three and a half years have been normal. Thanks to the "national importance" brought by the country's scientific and technological progress, ordinary people can also enjoy cutting-edge medical care," said Mr. Zheng, one of the first patients of proton therapy at Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (hereinafter referred to as Ruijin Hospital).
In November 2023, China’s first domestically developed proton therapy system (SAPT-PS-01) entered clinical use at Ruijin Hospital’s Oncology Proton Center. On March 25, 2024, the number of patients treated with the system exceeded 100. By April 2025, it had exceeded 600, and the range of conditions treated had expanded to nearly 50, covering common radiotherapy indications and clinical applications.
April 15th coincides with the 31st National Cancer Prevention and Treatment Awareness Week. With the theme of "Scientific Cancer Prevention, Healthy Life", this publicity week focuses on the latest developments in the field of cancer prevention and treatment. Proton therapy has significant advantages such as precise targeting and reduced side effects. It is currently the most advanced tumor radiotherapy technology. The relevant person in charge of Ruijin Hospital introduced a series of work in proton therapy.
The conference site. Pictures provided by Ruijin Hospital
Compared with traditional photon radiotherapy, proton therapy can achieve millimeter-level precise targeted treatment, significantly improving the tumor control rate while maximizing the protection of surrounding normal tissues. Proton therapy has the dual advantages of efficacy and safety in children's tumors, central nervous system tumors, head and neck tumors, re-radiotherapy, tumors in complex anatomical locations, as well as breast cancer, prostate cancer, lymphoma and other patient groups that need to avoid long-term side effects.
Cao Lu, deputy director of the Radiation Therapy Department of Ruijin Hospital, said that Ruijin Hospital has treated a total of 23 children and adolescent tumor patients, with the minimum age of the children being less than 4 years old. So far, all the children have been successfully treated, with good efficacy and safety results. At the same time, domestically produced proton devices have treated many patients with complex multi-organ failure. The hospital uses a multidisciplinary collaboration mechanism to systematically manage underlying diseases while controlling tumors, achieving coordinated optimization of organ function protection and precise tumor treatment.
At present, all proton clinical therapy patients in Ruijin Hospital have been included in the standardized prospective follow-up database, and internationally accepted standards are used for toxicity and efficacy evaluation, with a follow-up rate of nearly 100%. Among patients who completed efficacy evaluation, the local control rate exceeded 95%, and there were no grade 3 or above adverse reactions related to proton therapy. Compared with the current data reported in the international literature for the same period, the proton therapy follow-up data of Ruijin Hospital has similar performance in terms of survival rate, tumor control rate, toxicity control and data integrity, and even some data have better performance.
"Ruijin Hospital actively participates in the standardized construction of the proton therapy field in China, and cooperates with many tumor particle centers and experts in the country to formulate proton therapy technical standards and clinical application guidelines." Chen Jiayi, director of the Radiation Therapy Department of Ruijin Hospital, said that while further expanding the indications, the Shanghai Proton Therapy Translational Research Key Laboratory (in preparation) jointly built by Ruijin Hospital and Aipuqiang will also be committed to focusing on breakthroughs in key proton therapy technologies under the guidance of clinical needs.
"Ruijin Hospital has grown together with national enterprises, moved the factory to the hospital, established a factory in the hospital, and after more than ten years of intensive research and development, finally achieved a breakthrough in the localization of high-end medical equipment." Ning Guang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Ruijin Hospital, said, "Ruijin Hospital will continue to promote China's We will continue to make innovative breakthroughs in the field of proton therapy, standardize the establishment of a comprehensive tumor treatment system, and provide patients with better comprehensive diagnosis and treatment services. We will continue to innovate with national enterprises and hope that the technology developed from Ruijin Hospital can benefit more people and equip more hospitals.”
The reporter learned from Ruijin Hospital that the charging standard for Ruijin proton therapy is no more than 170,000 yuan per course of treatment for the same indication, which can be included in the reimbursement scope of "Shanghai Huibao" and other welfare insurance projects and commercial medical insurance. At the same time, Ruijin Hospital has launched the "Quality and Benefit Insurance-Ruijin Customized Edition", an inclusive insurance exclusive to the hospital's proton therapy, in order to provide more patients with accessible treatment protection.