Taipei City Hospital

To serve the people living in western Taipei, Taipei City Hospital has introduced the most advanced VMTA (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) instrument to the Zhongxing Branch, equipped with 360° IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and IGRT (Image Guide Radiation Therapy). The sophisticated computer hardware and software facilities enable the therapeutic range of high-dose radiation to be further focused on tumors, reducing the dosage on vital organs around the tumors to enhance tumor control and limit side effects and sequelae, which in turn further improves medical quality and patient survival rate. Zhongxing Branch integrates the tumor treatment center with cooperating multidisciplinary teams of Chinese and Western medicines, including the involvement of specialist medical workers in Medical and Surgical Oncology, Hematologic Oncology, Radiation Oncology, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, nutrition, rehabilitation and hospice palliative care, to provide holistic, complete courses of the full range of patient-centered cancer treatment.

VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) only takes about 5 minutes each time, whereas traditional IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), CT-based Image Guided Helical Tomotherapy and Helical-IMRT takes 15 to 20 minutes. That is to say, VMAT has greatly shortened treatment duration as well as reduced deviations and side effects caused by patient body shift during treatment. For patients who feel uncomfortable lying down for a long time, it is therefore the optimal choice. The applications of VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy), a medical technology that can be applied to tumors in any part of the body, are very extensive. Brain tumor, head and neck cancers (such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, oropharyngeal cancer, laryngeal caner), prostate cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophagus cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and vertebra metastasis can all be treated using VMAT.

Besides a complete cancer treatment team, the strong traditional Chinese medicine department is also an important characteristic of Zhongxing Branch. Although therapeutic effects have been greatly improved thanks to the increasingly advanced therapy techniques in modern medicine, many inevitable acute and chronic side effects and sequelae still occur in the treatment process, which is often a worry for both doctors and patients, and also leads to a decline in life quality. Therefore, more and more renowned cancer centers overseas have gradually realized that the intervention of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) not only can improve these annoying side effects, but also greatly promote the overall quality of life. In other words, the integration of the cancer treatment team in collaboration with traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture departments can provide cancer patients with a higher quality of medical treatment and life.

With the increase in cancer occurrence rate each year, determining how best to fight cancer has become an issue of concern for the whole nation. At Zhongxing Branch, apart from a complete cancer treatment team, including specialist medical workers in Medical and Surgical Oncology, Hematologic Oncology, Radiation Oncology, nutrition, rehabilitation and hospice palliative care, the most suitable treatment plan is formulated according to the cancer stages and physical condition of the patients. High technology therapeutic equipment is introduced and the advantages of Western and traditional Chinese medicines are integrated to provide cancer patients with holistic, complete courses of the full range of medical treatment.