Medipolis Proton Therapy Centre, Japan

Medipolis Proton Therapy Centre, located in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan, is one of the few JCI (Joint Commission International Accreditation) accredited proton centres in the world. 2011 saw the opening of the hospital, a well-known resort-style cancer proton line treatment centre in Japan. The hospital has its own five-star hotel for patients coming for treatment, and a free shuttle bus that runs daily to take patients to and from the hospital.

The Medipolis Proton Centre has three 360 degree rotating treatment rooms and the whole hospital is very clean and organised, and patients are admitted by appointment. Both the hospital and the equipment manufacturer in Japan place a high priority on equipment maintenance and invest a lot of effort here, with the goal of ensuring smooth and efficient operation. This is a feature of Japanese proton institutions, which on the surface may not seem to have any special technical features, but are able to achieve a high degree of stability and precision, both in terms of equipment operation and treatment behaviour. This is because any malfunction or deviation in the equipment can mean irreparable harm to the patient. In this respect, protons and heavy ions require a higher level of technology than conventional radiotherapy.

The Medipolis Proton Centre in Japan has extensive experience and good results in the treatment of solid tumours such as prostate, lung and liver cancer and pancreatic cancer, and has successfully completed one of the few proton lines for breast cancer in the world.

The Medipolis International Proton Therapy Centre is home to two of the five leading proton therapy specialists in Japan.

President Ryozo Hishikawa:
Ryozo Hishikawa is the current President of Medipolis International Proton Therapy Centre and is also the Honorary Life President of the Hyogo Prefectural Particle Line Medical Centre in Japan. He was the Executive Chairman of the 24th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Radiation Oncology (2011) and is a recognised expert in radiation therapy in Japan. He is also a visiting professor at Kobe University and a visiting professor at Kagoshima University, and has received the European Society for Radiation Therapy Small Source Therapy Award.

Vice-President Sho Ogino:
Vice President Sho Ogino was the first head of the Proton Line Therapy Department at the East Hospital of the National Cancer Treatment Research Centre in Japan. He is a senior expert in radiation therapy with 30 years of experience in cancer radiation therapy and 16 years of experience in cancer proton beam therapy.