The Growth of Radiation Oncology in Mainland China During the Last 10 Years

Yin, Wenwu; Chen, Bin; Tian, Fenghua; Yun, Yu; Kong, Feng Ming

doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2007.10.017

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The time frame for participants to respond to the questionnaire did not allow them to perform detailed research. Some countries/areas had data readily available due to other recent activities [15,18]. However, in others, the results reflect a considered judgement of the participant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Maybe not surprisingly, Weibo Yin reported recently that the largest percentage growth of staff numbers in radiation oncology in mainland China from 1997 to 2006 was in medical physics [15]. Given the fact that diagnostic procedures are increasingly important in detecting and outlining cancer, the role of medical physicists in imaging will increase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medical physics aspects of cancer care in the Asia Pacific region

Kron¹,

Cheung²,

Dai³

et al. 2008

Biomed. Imaging Interv. J.

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Medical physics plays an essential role in modern medicine. This is particularly evident in cancer care where medical physicists are involved in radiotherapy treatment planning and quality assurance as well as in imaging and radiation protection. Due to the large variety of tasks and interests, medical physics is often subdivided into specialties such as radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation oncology medical physics. However, even within their specialty, the role of radiation oncology medical physicists (ROMPs) is diverse and varies between different societies. Therefore, a questionnaire was sent to leading medical physicists in most countries/areas in the Asia/Pacific region to determine the education, role and status of medical physicists.Answers were received from 17 countries/areas representing nearly 2800 radiation oncology medical physicists. There was general agreement that medical physicists should have both academic (typically at MSc level) and clinical (typically at least 2 years) training. ROMPs spent most of their time working in radiotherapy treatment planning (average 17 hours per week); however radiation protection and engineering tasks were also common. Typically, only physicists in large centres are involved in research and teaching. Most respondents thought that the workload of physicists was high, with more than 500 patients per year per physicist, less than one ROMP per two oncologists being the norm, and on average, one megavoltage treatment unit per medical physicist.There was also a clear indication of increased complexity of technology in the region with many countries/areas reporting to have installed helical tomotherapy, IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy), Gamma-knife and Cyber-knife units. This and the continued workload from brachytherapy will require growing expertise and numbers in the medical physics workforce. Addressing these needs will be an important challenge for the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical physics aspects of cancer care in the Asia Pacific region

Kron¹,

Cheung²,

Dai³

et al. 2008

Biomed. Imaging Interv. J.

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show abstract

“…As of September 2006, there were 952 radiation therapy centers that were equipped with 918 linear accelerators, 472 60 Co machines, 146 ortho-voltage x-ray machines, 827 fluoroscoopy simulators, and 400 brachytherapy units including 21 252 Cf neutron remote afterloading brachytherapy units. There were 851 treatment planning systems and 467 ion-chambers [10]. In comparison to the 1997 survey, there has been a 321% increase in linear accelerators and 481% increase in treatment planning systems.…”

Section: Current Status Of Radiation Oncology In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of radiation centers in China are equipped and capable of performing basic three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) as reported by the 2006 survey [10]. Among 952 registered radiation centers in China, 579 centres (60%) were practising three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, but only 115 (12%) were delivering intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).…”

Section: Current Status Of Radiation Oncology In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%