Use of radiation therapy in cancer treatment low

China's top radiotherapy surgeon called for enhanced public awareness of radio therapy which he said had long been underused in cancer treatment in the nation.

Xi Tingyi, head of the Cancer Hospital affiliated to the Air Force General Hospital, PLA, made the remarks at a media event. He is also president of the Chinese Society for Radiation Oncology.

According to him, among all commonly seen cancer types, about 40 percent could be cured by radiotherapy while 70 percent should be treated with a "cocktail" therapy, including the radiation one.

The radiation medicine is therapy using ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells, medical experts said.

However, "only 20 percent of the Chinese cancer patients now take radiation therapy while the figure stands at more than 70 percent in the US," he pointed out.

He called on enhanced information exchange and coordination in patient referral among different departments such as the surgery and radiation therapy departments to ensure most effective treatments possible for the cancer patients.

Currently, most would turn to surgery for cancer treatment priority in China, he conceded.

Thereafter, "many come to me too late, missing the best period for cure with radiation therapy," he noted.

According to him, the radiation therapy is particularly good at treating cancers of the head-and-neck, breast, cervical, pancreas, and the vocal cord.