[Current status and limitation of particle radiation therapy]

Almost 9,000 patients have been treated by particle radiation therapy as a highly advanced medical technology in Japan, and definitive evaluation of this technology might now be possible. The process of approval of medical equipment, the law of medical technologists, and the law of medicine for particle radiation therapy have also been prepared. Number of facilities is expected to increase, and time has come that the fee of this medicine would cover by social insurance. Much debate, however, has been published in English journals upon proton therapy. The National Cancer Institute has started to support clinical trials in the United States. In Japan, however, research funding is still quite small.