Proton and heavy-ion therapy in China: a flat published price for the world's rarest radiotherapy
What heavy-ion therapy is, in one paragraph
Proton and carbon-ion beams deposit their energy precisely inside a tumor and spare the tissue behind it, which matters most for tumors near critical structures — the skull base, the spine, the eye — and for some tumors that resist conventional radiation. Carbon-ion (heavy-ion) machines are enormous and rare: only a handful of countries operate them, the United States currently has none, and Southeast Asia has none. Whether this therapy is appropriate for a given tumor is strictly a radiation oncologist's call.
One flat price, published
The Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center charges a flat ¥278,000 (≈US$39,000) per treatment course — the same price regardless of how many sessions the course requires. With hospitalization, imaging and medication, a full episode typically totals around ¥350,000 (≈US$49,000). By April 2025 the center had treated over 8,000 patients across most common cancer types. For a technology this scarce, a published flat price is itself remarkable — most of the world's centers quote case by case.
Who should even consider it
It belongs on your map in one situation: your oncologist has identified a tumor type and location where particle therapy has a real advantage, and the nearest machine is a continent away. In that situation, a published-price center with 8,000 treated cases, reachable by direct flight, changes the conversation. Our second-opinion coordination exists precisely to put your records in front of such specialists before you spend anything on travel.
Источник: Tencent News: 8,000 patients treated at Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center · 21jingji: pricing of proton/heavy-ion therapy