• Hodaka Numasaki, Hitoshi Shibuya, Masamichi Nishio, Hiroshi Ikeda, Kenji Sekiguchi, Norihiko Kamikonya, Masahiko Koizumi, Masao Tago, Yutaka Ando, Nobuhiro Tsukamoto, Atsuro Terahara, Katsumasa Nakamura, Michihide Mitsumori, Tetsuo Nishimura, Masato Hareyama, Teruki Teshima, and Japanese Society Therapeutic Radiology Oncology Database Committee.
• Department of Medical Physics and Engineering, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan.
• Strahlenther Onkol. 2011 Mar 1; 187 (3): 167-74.

Background And PurposeThe structure of radiation oncology in designated cancer care hospitals in Japan was investigated in terms of equipment, personnel, patient load, and geographic distribution. The effect of changes in the health care policy in Japan on radiotherapy structure was also examined.Material And MethodsThe Japanese Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology surveyed the national structure of radiation oncology in 2007. The structures of 349 designated cancer care hospitals and 372 other radiotherapy facilities were compared.ResultsRespective findings for equipment and personnel at designated cancer care hospitals and other facilities included the following: linear accelerators/facility: 1.3 and 1.0; annual patients/linear accelerator: 296.5 and 175.0; and annual patient load/full-time equivalent radiation oncologist was 237.0 and 273.3, respectively. Geographically, the number of designated cancer care hospitals was associated with population size.ConclusionThe structure of radiation oncology in Japan in terms of equipment, especially for designated cancer care hospitals, was as mature as that in European countries and the United States, even though the medical costs in relation to GDP in Japan are lower. There is still a shortage of manpower. The survey data proved to be important to fully understand the radiation oncology medical care system in Japan.

24 keywords...

hide…