On May 12, 2016, Provision Healthcare and Tianjin Taishan Cancer Hospital – International Personalized Cancer Center (IPCC) held the “Tianjin Free Trade Zone Sino-American Proton Therapy International Summit” in Tianjin*. During the summit, Provision and Tianjin IPCC entered into agreement to launch the first international Proton Therapy Clinical Research & Training Center in China. With the launch of the program with Provision Healthcare, Tianjin IPCC will develop the most advanced research platform of proton therapy in China, serving the entire northeastern and central China. Given the positive social and economic impacts, the program and partnership received the warmest welcomes and supports from the local government and community.
Dr. Terry Douglass, Joe Matteo and Niek Schreuder from Provision/ProNova, along with hundreds of experts and governmental representatives, attended the signing ceremony and spoke on various aspects of proton therapy. Dr. Xishan Hao, president of Tianjin Taishan Cancer Hospital, president of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, honorary president of Tianjin Medical University and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, participated in the agreement signing and launching ceremony.
Dr. Terry Douglass, Founder and CEO of Provision Healthcare, discussed the development of proton therapy in the U.S. and around the world, highlighting proton therapy’s potential role in advancing cancer treatment in China. Based on the rapid increase in cancer incidence and the lack of radiation therapy resources, Dr. Douglass estimates that China will need more than 2,000 proton therapy treatment rooms for the annual new diagnoses alone. Following the speech, Dr. Terry Douglass was interviewed by China’s national television to discuss proton therapy and the partnership between Provision and Tianjin Taishan Cancer Hospital.
Joe Matteo, president of ProNova Solutions, introduced the world-class SC360 proton therapy compact system. ProNova has committed to minimizing the cost barrier of proton therapy by drastically decreasing the size and weight of the system, and more importantly, improving the clinical capability by integrating the state-of-the-art imaging technology.
A representative from Provision Healthcare’s medical physics department spoke about the physics and clinical advantages of proton therapy, and led the medical physics training session in the afternoon. More than one hundred Chinese medical physicists and radiation therapy experts participated in the training session. The discussions covered the clinical applications of proton therapy as well as the continual growth of proton industry.*Tianjin: The city of Tianjin (Pronounced as “Tientsin”) is the fourth largest city in China and home to over 15 million people. Tianjin, literally meaning “Heaven’s Ferry”, owns the largest seaport in northern China.