･Please ask your own doctor to make an appointment with the SCC.
Please go your own doctor for consultation first, and ask him/her to prepare a letter of introduction for the SCC if he/she sees your case as applicable for the proton therapy. An appointment with the Proton Therapy Center or a relevant clinical division will be made through the medical institution which he/she belongs to.
(For more information, please refer to the page “To Patients Wishing to Take Proton Therapy at the SCC.”)
･You, as well as your family, can also make an appointment yourself.
As long as you have the letter of introduction, images and specimen prepared by your own doctor, you (or your family member) can call the SCC to make an appointment yourself. Please note that there are cases when they are measured as applicable for the therapy on the first day of examination, while in other cases the results are given later after medical conferences are conducted.

Diseases applicable for proton therapy are cancer in head and neck area (including ear, nose and throat), non-small-cell lung cancer, hepatocellular cancer, prostate cancer and other solid cancers. However, decisions are made depending on conditions of each patient. For more information, please refer to the page “Applicable Diseases and Conditions.”
Please note that following conditions are also included as applicable; the cancer is solid and primary, being able to be completely cured as a result of the therapy, and having the biggest dimension of less than 10cm without distant metastases.

It could be applicable in case there is only one metastasis identified in one organ or one body region. However, if there are more than one metastasis, the effect of proton therapy, which is a local treatment, doesn’t seem good enough, as the case should be given a systemic treatment preferentially.

Please refer to the page “Clinical Records” for detailed information.
Proton therapy requires many professionals on site including radiation therapy doctors and clinical radiation technitians, as well as medical physicists who are responsible for management and maintenance of the facility. Therefore, the sufficient number of the staff must be upheld and efforts to maintain it are made all the time in accordance with the increase of patients at the SCC.

It is possible to take it as an outpatient, but you may need to stay in the hospital in case your conditions and the distance from home require to.

Side effects from proton therapy are comparatively small. During the treatment, patients don’t feel anything. (For more information, please refer to “What are the features of proton therapy?” in the page “Proton Therapy at the SCC.”)

Duration of the therapy and the number of irradiation sessions differ depending on where and how big the cancer is. Patients take irradiation sessions from 10 to 40 (averaged 25) times, on 5 business days a week (no sessions on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, but for the holidays from the end of the year to the New Year, and for facility checkups, temporary holiday sessions replace them). It takes from 15 to 40 minutes for each session.
The average duration required for the therapy is from 4 to 8 weeks.

The SCC will help patients make the best choice of therapy form with opinions of professionals involved, in the process shown below. Proton therapy is not the one and only form of cancer treatment.
・Conditions of cancer are identified precisely in the course of and as a result of examinations and tests.
・Patients must take initial consultations with doctors at the relevant departments first at the SCC. After that, specialists give them their opinions regarding other options of cancer treatments.

The basic charge is 2,400,000 yen (including up to 10 irradiation sessions) per a case. In addition to this, the irradiation charge, which is 100,000 yen for a pack of 5 irradiation sessions, will be required.
The cost covers the whole process of the therapy, consisting of tailoring the therapy plan, customizing a fixator, a porous and a collimater, irradiation sessions, CT scanning, positioning, and alteration of the therapy plan when necessary.
Medical costs for hospital stay, inspections and hospital meals during the proton therapy are charged separately, but are partly covered by medical insurances.
The sum of basic charge and irradiation charge should not exceed 2,800,000 yen.
Citizens of Shizuoka Prefecture can have exemption of 200,000 yen from the basic charge, which makes it 2,200,000 yen.
For more information, please refer to the page “Cost of Proton Therapy.”

The whole cost of proton therapy is charged on the first day of irradiation session.
Other medical costs are charged upon every visit for an outpatient. For an inpatient, upon discharging from hospital or on (or around) the 10th every month for the previous month.
Please come to the Casher at the window 4 in the SCC to make a payment, or deposit at the Suruga Bank, the Shizuoka Bank and the Shimizu Bank, within 2 weeks after receiving the bill.

For the citizens of Shizuoka Prefecture who have lived there for more than one year before starting the therapy (including family members in the same households), 200,000 yen is exempted from the basic charge.
In addition, there is an interest support system for the citizens of Shizuoka Pref., in case it is difficult to pay for the proton therapy at the moment. This is to help patients (and their families) pay off the interests when they need to get loans from financial institutions for proton therapy at the SCC.
As of the end of July, 2013, there have been 8 cases that received benefits from this system.
For more information, please refer to the page “Interest Support System of Shizuoka Prefecture for the Proton Therapy Loans.”

There are special loans tailored for proton therapy at the SCC at the financial institutions in Shizuoka Prefecture including the Shizuoka Bank, the Suruga Bank, the Shimizu Bank and the Mishima Shinkin Bank.
Please contact below for detailed information in regard with procedure of getting loans.
　Shizuoka Bank 0120-286039
　Suruga Bank 0120-60-1616
　Shimizu Bank 0120-0-43289
　Mishima Shinkin Bank 0120-608-389