What is heavy ion radiotherapy?

Benefits of heavy ion radiotherapy
Treatment without surgical resection – Cancer therapy that is more intensive to the tumor and more gentle on the body

Heavy ion radiotherapy can be given externally with no pain, offering only a small burden on the body with low side effects.

In cancer therapy, surgery has been traditionally performed with curative intent for various types of tumors. The disadvantage of surgery, however, is that it is associated with postsurgical pains, risk of complications, and functional or cosmetic deficits if involved organs are removed.
In contrast, heavy ion radiotherapy, in which the lesion is externally irradiated with carbon ions, can be regarded as a treatment without surgical resection, and is characterized as a treatment with no pain and little burden on the body.
Reference: What is heavy ion radiotherapy?

Heavy ion radiotherapy is expected to have lower side effects than conventional X-ray radiotherapy. This is based on the fact of physics that the range of carbon ion beams in tissues is finite, depositing most of their energy at the end of their range (the Bragg peak) to the tumor.
Reference: Differences from conventional radiotherapy

Benefits of heavy ion radiotherapy

Outpatient care is possible.

The treatment is given once a day, three to four times per week, for a total of one to sixteen fractions. The shortest period for completion of the therapy is a single day, and the average is three weeks. A single treatment session takes fifteen to thirty minutes including positioning and so on. The irradiation time itself takes approximately one to three minutes.
In some cases, outpatient care is possible according to the judgment of the physician in charge. (for Japanese patients)

Patients from overseas are currently undergoing outpatient treatment.

Fractions and period estimates
*The fractions and period depend not only on the disease but also on the facility and its conditions.
  Fractions (Estimates) Period (Estimates)
Skull base tumor 16 4 weeks
Head and neck cancer 16 4 weeks
Lung cancer
(Non-small cell lung cancer I)*		 1-4 1 day to 1 week
Liver cancer (Hepatoma)* 2-4 2 days to 1 week
Kidney cancer* 12 3 weeks
Pancreatic cancer* 8-12 2-3 weeks
Prostate cancer 12-16 3-4 weeks
Postoperative recurrent rectal cancer 16 4 weeks
Bone and soft tissue tumor 16 4 weeks
Uterine cancer* 20 5 weeks

* Clinical studies also exist. Note that the sites that can be treated may depend on the facility. For details, please contact the facility. Introduction of the related facilities and counseling clinics)