Liver Cancer Patients Receive Optimum Treatment Using Image-Guided Radiotherapy in Taiwan

Physicians in Taiwan here have begun treating liver cancer with sophisticated image-guided radiosurgery. The hospital has developed a program for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common type of liver cancer that is widespread in Asia.

Clinicians from the Cheng Ching General Hospital (Taichung, Taiwan) are utilizing a new TrueBeam STx system developed by Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA) for the radiosurgery. The hospital has developed an approach for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common type of liver cancer that is widespread in Asia.

“With TrueBeam STx, we can generate images of the tumor during the treatment, and use them to adapt the treatment in real time. This helps us to better target the liver tumor and minimize exposure of nearby critical organs like the duodenum or the stomach,” said Dr. Po-Ming Wang, chief radiation oncologist at the hospital.

Dr. Wang is a specialist in treating HCC, which is globally the third leading cause of cancer mortality after lung and stomach cancer, and a considerable problem in Taiwan, mainland China, and other regions of Asia. The new TrueBeam system at Cheng Ching General Hospital is the first in Taiwan. Over the last four years, Dr. Wang and his colleagues evaluated problematic cases of HCC using an earlier generation of Varian technology. They have gained wide experience with tools such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for shaping the treatment beam to match the shape of the tumor, and RapidArc radiotherapy, for delivering sophisticated treatments very rapidly.

The new TrueBeam STx will continue to enable intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and RapidArc treatments, but with greater precision and higher dose delivery rates that make it possible to complete advanced treatments in less time. Dr. Wang is notably excited about the Gated RapidArc capabilities of the new TrueBeam STx machine, which use technology to monitor a patient’s breathing and compensate for tumor motion during RapidArc treatments. “We anticipate using gated RapidArc to deliver highly precise radiosurgical procedures for colorectal, liver, and lung tumors,” Dr. Wang said.

Varian's TrueBeam was designed to treat tumors with unprecedented speed and accuracy. It features many technical developments that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. With its high intensity mode, a TrueBeam machine can deliver very high doses rapidly and effectively, more than twice as fast as earlier generations of technology. The TrueBeam STx is a high-end model optimized for radiosurgical applications, where very large doses are delivered in one treatment or only a few sessions.

“This hospital has a long history of pioneering radiotherapy treatments for HCC,” said Prof. King-Jen Chang, superintendent of Cheng Ching General Hospital. “We have great experience developed treating HCC over the past 14 years. This was one of the first hospitals in Taiwan to introduce RapidArc four years ago, and we have now become the first to offer TrueBeam treatments. Our multidisciplinary team will use our TrueBeam STx machine to treat all forms of cancer, especially those that involve tumor motion during treatment, like cancer of the liver and lung. We are pleased to be using the most state-of-the-art techniques for the benefit of our patients.”

Cheng Ching General Hospital is a 1,000-bed teaching hospital, providing both acute and long-term healthcare services.

Related Links:
Cheng Ching General Hospital
Varian Medical Systems