The status of medical physics in radiotherapy in China

Abstract

To present an overview of the status of medical physics in radiotherapy in China, including facilities and devices, occupation, education, research, etc. Materials and methods: The information about medical physics in clinics was obtained from the 9-th nationwide survey conducted by the China Society for Radiation Oncology in 2019. The data of medical physics in education and research was collected from the publications of the official and professional organizations. Results: By 2019, there were 1463 hospitals or institutes registered to practice radiotherapy and the number of accelerators per million population was 1.5. There were 4172 medical physicists working in clinics of radiation oncology. The ratio between the numbers of radiation oncologists and medical physicists is 3.51. Approximately, 95% of medical physicists have an undergraduate or graduate degrees in nuclear physics and biomedical engineering. 86% of medical physicists have certificates issued by the Chinese Society of Medical Physics. There has been a fast growth of publications by authors from mainland of China in the top international medical physics and radiotherapy journals since 2018. Conclusions: Demand for medical physicists in radiotherapy increased quickly in the past decade. The distribution of radiotherapy facilities in China became more balanced. High quality continuing education and training programs for medical physicists are deficient in most areas. The role of medical physicists in the clinic has not been clearly defined and their contributions have not been fully recognized by the community.Prof. Xu Haichao in 1940s at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). He worked with Prof. Marvin Williomus, an American medical physicist, to treat cancer patients using a 400 kV X-ray unit [7]. The department of radiology in Caner Institute of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CICAMS) started to treat patients with a Cobalt-60 unit in 1958. At the same year, the division of radiation physics in CICAMS was founded. They made the manual multi-leaf collimator and installed it on Cobalt-60 machine in 1965. Later, they made the remote control system for brachytherapy machine using Cobalt-60 source ball in 1965Cobalt-60 source ball in -1967.From 1970, China began to build linear accelerators and on-board imaging devices. As a result, 25 MeV Betatron, Simulator and Cobalt-60 brachytherapy machine were produced by Tianjing therapeutic instrument factory [9]. Meanwhile, Beijing Medical Apparatus and Instruments Institute built the first linear accelerator [10]. Since 1976, the major hospitals started to purchase high-end linear accelerators, CT, Brachytron and planning software from USA and Europe [11]. Following the clinical application of the linear accelerators, text books in Chinese

Clinical characteristics and prognostic analysis of multiple primary malignant neoplasms in female patients with breast cancer or genitalia malignancies

“…The second tumor was treated primarily with surgery and chemotherapy. It is worth noting that radiotherapy only accounted for a small proportion, which could be attributed to the imperfect system, the shortage of radiotherapy physicians, and defective equipment at that time ( Yan et al, 2021 ). As previously reported by some researchers, all factors affecting the prognosis of patients with MPMNs, including age, the number of tumors, the interval between tumors, the distribution of lesions, stage, and treatment, are related ( Ha et al, 2007 ; Jiang et al, 2019 ; Kim et al, 2018 ; Kim et al, 2015 ; Lee et al, 2015 ; Lv et al, 2017 ; Motuzyuk et al, 2018 ).…”

Flourish of Proton and Carbon Ion Radiotherapy in China

“…(93). Conventional radiotherapy started relatively early in China, and it has gradually matured (94). Proton radiotherapy equipment and radiotherapy planning system started late in China.…”

“…Currently commercially available treatment planning systems are developed by business companies, such as RayStation (RaySearch Medical Laboratories, Stockholm, Sweden), XiO (Elekta., Stockholm, Sweden), Eclipse (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA, USA), and Pinnacle (Philips Healthcare, Andover, MA, USA) ( 93 ). Conventional radiotherapy started relatively early in China, and it has gradually matured ( 94 ). Proton radiotherapy equipment and radiotherapy planning system started late in China.…”

Process management and safety culture in radiotherapy services: impacts on quality patient care and safety

“…Professionals in RS must have extensive knowledge of radiotherapy processes in order to adequately assimilate to the variability of these applications, since radiotherapy treatment is generally customized. The main responsibility of the medical physicist is to ensure the accuracy, efficacy, and safety of the physical aspects of radiotherapy treatment (Huq et al, 2016;Yan et al, 2021). Furthermore, they must guarantee patient safety and the quality of radiotherapy treatment (Chen et al, 2015;Yan et al, 2021).…”

“…The main responsibility of the medical physicist is to ensure the accuracy, efficacy, and safety of the physical aspects of radiotherapy treatment (Huq et al, 2016;Yan et al, 2021). Furthermore, they must guarantee patient safety and the quality of radiotherapy treatment (Chen et al, 2015;Yan et al, 2021). Proper process management and a disseminated safety culture within the organization are crucial for meeting patient safety requirements to eliminate incidents involving falls and injuries (Chang et al, 2019;Lindberg et al, 2020).…”