Southern South Korea Cancer Treatment Hub, 'Gijang Heavy Ion Therapy Center' Nears Operation

Busan City will hold a 'Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Expansion and Remodeling Construction to Establish Rotating Gantry and Other Treatment Equipment' at 2 p.m. on the 7th at the Heavy Ion Therapy Center in Gijang-gun, together with the Ministry of Science and ICT, Seoul National University Hospital, and Gijang-gun.

Perspective view of the Busan Gijang Particle Therapy Center.

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Hosted by Seoul National University Hospital, the event will be attended by about 100 people, including Mayor Park, Cho Sung-kyung, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Kim Young-tae, Director of Seoul National University Hospital, central and medical officials, as well as local figures such as An Seong-min, Chairperson of the City Council, Jeong Dong-man, Member of the National Assembly, and Jeong Jong-bok, Mayor of Gijang-gun.

The groundbreaking ceremony will proceed in the order of commemorative speeches, congratulatory speeches, button ceremony, and on-site inspection.

Central and medical attendees include Lee Yong-hoon, President of UNIST, Yang Dong-heon, Director of Kyungpook National University Hospital, Lee Chang-hoon, Director of the Southeastern Radiation Medical Center, and local figures such as City Council members Lee Seung-woo (Gijang-gun 2, Vice Chair of the Planning and Finance Committee) and Park Jong-cheol (Gijang-gun 1, Chair of the Citizen Safety Special Committee).

Heavy ion therapy is a cutting-edge treatment method that accelerates carbon atoms, which make up our body, to near the speed of light and precisely collides the resulting energy with cancer cells to destroy them.

Compared to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it reduces side effects and is gaining attention as a method to enhance treatment effects in a relatively short period. In particular, for stage 3 to 4 cancer patients, it has been found to increase the 5-year survival rate by more than 23%, and for recurrent cancer patients, it shows a cure rate of about 42% or more.

World's First Technology Applied.

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Currently, it is used restrictively for prostate cancer treatment, but it is expected to expand its treatment scope to head and neck cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, osteosarcoma, and others through clinical trials.

The expansion and structural modification construction being carried out this time is the final step to introduce the heavy ion accelerator necessary for heavy ion therapy into the center. The center will expand the rotating gantry treatment room and reinforce facilities related to the heavy ion accelerator.

The rotating gantry is a structure that shoots beams from various angles, allowing patients to adjust their treatment posture comfortably without needing to move themselves.

The center plans to invest a total of 25 billion KRW over two years starting this year to complete the major expansion and remodeling construction, then proceed with the assembly, installation, acceptance inspection, test operation, and approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the heavy ion accelerator, and begin patient treatment from 2027.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “If the heavy ion accelerator is introduced to the center through this construction, Busan Gijang will become the 18th in the world (currently being established in the United States, China, France) and the world's first facility with the highest dose heavy ion therapy facility,” adding, “We expect this to alleviate some of the inconvenience for residents in the southern region, including Busan, who travel to the metropolitan area in search of better medical services.”

Mayor Park also emphasized, “Related industries such as medical tourism will be revitalized centered around the Southeastern Radiation Medical Science Industrial Complex and the Southeastern Radiation Medical Center, providing vitality to the national medical industry as a whole.”

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