Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 31:135-141 (2001)
© 2001 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
The Future Demand for and Structural Problems of Japanese Radiotherapy
1Division of Multidisciplinary Radiotherapy, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, 2Department of Medical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, 3Department of Radiology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, 4Department of Radiology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Gunma, 5Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto and 6Department of Radiology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Background: Recently, as the number of elderly people in Japan is growing, so is the number of new cancer cases. The number of patients treated with radiotherapy is therefore also on the increase, so that it is important to estimate the future demand for radiotherapy and to make preparations for it.
Methods: All the surveys were conducted for 106 facilities selected randomly out of 556 radiotherapy facilities in Japan. To obtain trends in the number of new cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in Japan, we conducted a survey with a self-administered mail questionnaire designed to obtain the number of new patients treated with radiotherapy for each year of the past decade (1990–99). The future number of new patients treated with radiotherapy was estimated from the data thus obtained. To investigate structural problems of Japanese radiotherapy, surveys about the number of treatment machines and full-time equivalent (FTE) radiation oncologists were conducted according to data from the Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) structure survey and the Patterns of Care Study (PCS). We also compared the structure of Japanese radiotherapy with that in the USA.
Results: The number of patients treated with radiotherapy has increased for every institutional stratum, with an overall increase of 1.4-fold over the past 10 years in Japan. It is estimated that the number of cancer patients treated with radiotherapy will reach 190 000 in 2015. In Japanese non-academic institutions, less than one FTE radiation oncologist has been managing many of these patients. In both equipment and manpower, academic institutions exceed non-academic institutions.
Conclusion: The future demand for Japanese radiotherapy will grow substantially, so that it is of vital importance to prepare for it. Specifically, the number of FTE radiation oncologists must be increased.
+ For reprints and all correspondence: Atsushi Imai, Division of Multidisciplinary Radiotherapy, Biomedical Research Center, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2–2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. E-mail: aimai@radonc.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
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