Recently, Mr. Zhang, a lung cancer patient who has been fighting cancer for 10 years and has experienced two brain metastases, sent an electronic thank you letter to the medical team of the second ward of head and neck radiotherapy of Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital, thanking them for saving him from the brink of danger again.
The young teacher unfortunately suffered from cancer and experienced two brain metastases in 10 years of fighting cancer
It is reported that Mr. Zhang's family lives in Wuhan City and used to be a primary school teacher. In 2014, at the age of 31, he was unfortunately diagnosed with ALK gene fusion mutant lung cancer, and his condition was temporarily controlled after receiving targeted **.
In 2020, he unfortunately developed brain metastases and came to the second ward of head and neck radiotherapy of Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital to receive **. Because the structure of the brain is quite complex, it is difficult to completely remove the metastasis through surgery, and the drug is often unable to control the progression of brain metastasis because of factors such as the barrier of the blood-brain barrier and tumor drug resistance, so radiation has an irreplaceable role in brain metastasis. In view of the diffuse situation of Mr. Zhang's metastases, Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital formulated a whole-brain radiotherapy plan for him through multidisciplinary joint consultation, and under the careful care of the medical team, the radiotherapy process was very smooth, and Mr. Zhang's symptoms improved significantly, and he was able to return to normal life and work.
At the end of 2023, Mr. Zhang found that there was a new metastasis in his left brain during a follow-up, which was difficult for him to accept. What is even more difficult to accept is that he also has symptoms such as blurred vision, decreased thinking ability and communication disorders at the same time, which seriously affects his daily life and work. He had to be admitted to the second ward of head and neck radiotherapy at the Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital again.
The medical team worked hard and the brain reradiotherapy was successfully completed
Mr. Zhang's condition was a problem for the medical team: he had already received radiotherapy for his brain, and if he were to be given another radiotherapy, the dose of the two radiotherapy sessions would be too high, which could cause irreversible damage to important parts of the brain. The brain is the supreme "headquarters" of the human body, managing all major systems and organs of the body, and once unnecessary damage occurs, the consequences are fatal!
Despite the difficulties, the medical team resolutely chose to go all out in the face of the patient's request to continue**. Zhou Yajuan, director of the ward, repeatedly communicated and negotiated with the team of medical oncology, radiotherapy physicists, imaging departments, nutrition departments and other multidisciplinary experts, and finally finalized the re-course precision radiotherapy plan for new cranial metastases and the first-class plan for whole-body targeted drug adjustment.
In the process of reradiotherapy, it is necessary to ensure that the dose of new metastatic lesions is increased as much as possible, and the surrounding normal tissues are irradiated as little as possible, which is like "dancing on the tip of a knife", and there is no room for any mistakes, and the Halcyon intelligent radiotherapy system (quick knife) introduced by Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital in 2021 can just meet this requirement. This is the world's first 100% image-guided, fully digital and artificial intelligence high-end medical radiology linear accelerator, with a high degree of integration, high automation, high intelligence and other advantages, the radiotherapy from the traditional "precision radiotherapy" to "intelligent precision radiotherapy", can lock the tumor position throughout the process, to achieve the precise irradiation of the target area of the radiation, but also the traditional radiotherapy equipment 0The leakage rate of 5%-1% is reduced to 001% to minimize damage to normal tissues.
In the end, under the meticulous care and care of the medical team, Mr. Zhang successfully completed radiotherapy and related treatments. When he was discharged from the hospital, his symptoms such as blurred vision, decreased thinking skills, and communication disorders improved significantly.
After returning home, in order to show the medical team that he was significantly better, Mr. Zhang knocked down a long thank you note on his mobile phone. He said that during this hospitalization, the medical staff not only were professional and meticulous in the prevention of tumors, but also paid careful attention to the patient's worries and thoughts, provided relevant psychological support and guidance, helped him improve his emotional adjustment and psychological coping ability, and reduced his anxiety and worry about the condition. He said that he would like to thank the medical staff of Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital for their dedication and care for him, so that he can have the confidence to continue on the road of fighting cancer!
Reporter: Liu Yating Correspondent: Wang Fang, Yu Xiaoyan, Tang Qingqing.
Editor: Wang Jian.
Editor-in-charge: Summer.
Editor: Wang Jun.