In China, the survival rate of liver cancer remains low while the mortality rate is high. Effectively reducing the burden of liver cancer is still a major challenge in the field of public health and chronic disease prevention in the Chinese population. Optimizing screening strategies for liver cancer remains a profound approach to secondary prevention worthy of continuous exploration. To address this pressing issue, the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission commissioned this guideline. The National Cancer Center of China initiated the guideline development and convened a multidisciplinary expert panel and working groups. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline integrated the most up-to-date evidence of liver cancer screening, China's national conditions, and existing practical experience in liver cancer screening. Evidence-based recommendations on the target population, screening technologies, surveillance strategies, and other key points across the process of liver cancer screening and surveillance management were provided. This guideline would help standardize the practice of liver cancer screening in China.

In China, the survival rate of liver cancer remains low while the mortality rate is high. Effectively reducing the burden of liver cancer is still a major challenge in the field of public health and chronic disease prevention in the Chinese population. Optimizing screening strategies for liver cancer remains a profound approach to secondary prevention worthy of continuous explora-tion. This guideline was commissioned by the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission. The National Cancer Center of China initiated the guideline develop-ment and convened a multidisciplinary expert panel and working group. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline integrated the most up-to-date evidence of liver cancer screening, China′s national conditions, and existing practical experience in liver cancer screening. Evidence-based recommendations on the target population, screening technologies, surveillance strategies, and other key points across the process of liver cancer screening and surveillance management were provided. This guideline would help to standardize the practice of liver cancer screening in China.

Objective:To systematically quantify the access to screening and surveillance service of liver cancer in populations in China, especially a series of sub-indicators of the availability.Methods:Following the specific indicators applied by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in the session of availability and use of screening practices in several cancer screening handbooks, information about the access/availability of liver cancer screening and surveillance in population in China were collected; the indicators included local policies and guidelines, procedures most commonly used or recommended, population coverage and participation rate, compliance and related factors, treatment rate, acceptability, equity and others. Systematic review approach was used, combined with searching core literatures/monograph, websites of governments and available program reports, for a systematic analysis on the access to liver cancer screening and surveillance in populations in China.Results:A total of 34 journal articles were included from the systematic review and most of which were about the participation of secondary liver screening or surveillance compliance; additional information were mainly obtained from the other sources. Overall, there were clearly recommended screening and surveillance procedures for liver cancer in the three major cancer screening programs funded by the central government of China. It was estimated that 0.09% of the population aged 35-74 years were covered by liver cancer screening in 2019 in China. The overall participation rates of secondary screening ranged from 37.5% to 62.3% in three major programs, the median compliance rate of surveillance was reported as 26.9% ( Q1, Q3: 23.5%, 41.0%) in the 6 included studies. Two studies reported the factors affecting the participation and compliance. A large-scale multicenter analysis showed that the subject acceptability to alpha fetoprotein test combined with ultrasound screening was as high as 99.3% in high-risk population in urban area. The treatment rate of liver cancer founded by screening, surveillance or follow-up was estimated to be >90% in rural population. No studies of equity were obtained via the systematic review. Conclusions:The public health service programs in China all recommend specific procedures for liver cancer screening in general population and surveillance for high-risk individuals. However, the overall availability needs to be improved, particularly in the indicator of population coverage. Participation rates of screening and compliance rates of surveillance varied among the included programs and the studies, suggesting that the influencing factors need to be further identified. The relatively high subject acceptability suggests the potential demands for screening service. More efforts are needed to address the access to screening and surveillance of liver cancer in populations in China.

In China, the survival rate of liver cancer remains low while the mortality rate is high. Effectively reducing the burden of liver cancer is still a major challenge in the field of public health and chronic disease prevention in the Chinese population. Optimizing screening strategies for liver cancer remains a profound approach to secondary prevention worthy of continuous exploration. To address this pressing issue, the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission commissioned this guideline. The National Cancer Center of China initiated the guideline development and convened a multidisciplinary expert panel and working groups. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline integrated the most up-to-date evidence of liver cancer screening, China′s national conditions, and existing practical experience in liver cancer screening. Evidence-based recommendations on the target population, screening technologies, surveillance strategies, and other key points across the process of liver cancer screening and surveillance management were provided. This guideline would help standardize the practice of liver cancer screening in China.

In China, the survival rate of liver cancer remains low while the mortality rate is high. Effectively reducing the burden of liver cancer is still a major challenge in the field of public health and chronic disease prevention in the Chinese population. Optimizing screening strategies for liver cancer remains a profound approach to secondary prevention worthy of continuous exploration. To address this pressing issue, the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission commissioned this guideline. The National Cancer Center of China initiated the guideline development and convened a multidisciplinary expert panel and working groups. Following the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development, this guideline integrated the most up-to-date evidence of liver cancer screening, China′s national conditions, and existing practical experience in liver cancer screening. Evidence-based recommendations on the target population, screening technologies, surveillance strategies, and other key points across the process of liver cancer screening and surveillance management were provided. This guideline would help standardize the practice of liver cancer screening in China.

Objective:To explore the feasibility of the clinical implementation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans with 6MV photon on two Elekta Linacs (Versa HD and Synergy) after beam matching.Methods:The images of 12 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, central lung cancer and prostate cancer were randomly selected, and the IMRT and VMAT plans were designed. Two different dose tools of ionization chamber and three-dimensional detector ArcCheck were used to verify the individualized radiation treatment of 6MV photon beams on two Linacs and compare the differences.Results:The deviations between the doses of two Linacs (Versa HD and Synergy) measured by the ion chamber and treatment planning system were (0.32±1.32)% and (0.54±1.29)%. The differences of all plans were within the range of ±3%, and the deviations of the point dose between two Linacs were within the range of ±2% with no statistical significance (both P>0.05). The γ analysis of verification using ArcCheck showed that the passing rates of all plans under the 2mm/3% and 3mm/3% with 10% threshold conditions were over 95%, respectively. The average differences between two Linacs were 0.19%(2mm/3%) and 0.09%(3mm/3%). Conclusions:The results of performing IMRT/VMAT plans on two Linacs meet the clinical requirements and the differences between two Linacs are small. Hence, the same plans can be implemented interchangeably on different Linacs.

Image-guided radiation therapy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a new technology that has been widely studied and developed in recent years. The technology combines the advantages of MRI imaging, and can offer online real-time tracking of tumor and adjacent organs at risk, as well as real-time optimization of radiotherapy plan. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of this technology, and to grasp the international development and trends in this field, this paper reviews and summarizes related researches, so as to make the researchers and clinical personnel in this field to understand recent status of this technology, and carry out corresponding researches. This paper summarizes the advantages of MRI and the research progress of MRI linear accelerator (MR-Linac), online guidance, adaptive optimization, and dosimetry-related research. Possible development direction of these technologies in the future is also discussed. It is expected that this review can provide a certain reference value for clinician and related researchers to understand the research progress in the field.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Particle Accelerators ; Radiometry ; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided

Objective: To study the dosimetric characteristics and plan quality of PTV-based intensity modulated proton radiotherapy (IMPT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans for prostate cancer, so as to provide a reference for clinical application. Methods: A total of 10 prostate cancer cases were included in this retrospective study. IMPT and RapidArc plans were designed by RayStation and Eclipse TPS based on PTV, respectively. For each case, IMPT plans were generated using multiple field optimization (MFO) technique with two parallel-opposed lateral fields, whereas RapidArc plans were generated using double-arc technique (two full arcs). Final dose calculation of IMPT was conducted by pencil beam(PB) and Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm, respectively, with adopted data model from the pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy system of IBA Protues Plus(IBA Group, Belgium); The data model originated from the linear accelerator of Varian Clinac iX (Varian Medical Systems, America) was used for RapidArc plans. Dosimetric parameters of DVH and dose distribution were used to compare the dose differences in targets and organs at risk (OARs) between these two treatment techniques. Results: For targets, HIs of PB-IMPT and MC-IMPT were slightly better than that of RapidArc , but CI of IMPT was slightly lower than that of RapidArc; D_1% of PB-IMPT was significantly better than those of MC-IMPT and RapidArc (Z=-2.805, -2.803, P<0.05). PB-IMPT and MC-IMPT achieved better protection than RapidArc on rectum V₃₀(Z=-2.191, -1.988, P<0.05)and D_mean(Z=-2.599, -2.497, P<0.05), bladder V₃₀(Z=-2.701, -2.701, P<0.05), V₄₀(Z=-2.395, -2.395, P<0.05)and D_mean(Z=-2.701, -2.701, P<0.05). There was no significant difference between PB-IMPT and MC-IMPT plans for prostate cancer, except for the D_1% [(73.86±67.34) Gy vs.(75.45±2.01) Gy] (RBE) and HI [(0.040±0.010) vs. (0.058±0.020)] of the target. Conclusions Both techniques can meet the clinical requirements, but IMPT showed significant dosimetric advantages compared with RapidArch by reducing the dose to OARs and improving the plan quality.

Flash radiotherapy is a kind of radiotherapy method using ultra-high dose rate radiation. Compared with the traditional dose rate radiotherapy, it has unique radiobiological advantages. In this paper, the principle of flash radiotherapy, the process and results of biological experiments are summarized. At the same time, the advantages and challenges of flash radiotherapy are analyzed, and the future clinical application is prospected.
Radiotherapy/methods* ; Radiotherapy Dosage ; Technology

Objective:To analyze the disease burden of liver cancer in China.Methods:Based on eight data sources, including the series of Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Report, three national death cause surveys in China, China Health Statistical Yearbook, China Death Cause Surveillance Datasets, GLOBOCAN, Cancer Incidence in Five Continents (CI5), WHO Mortality Database and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), the information on incidence, mortality and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) of liver cancer, were extracted for the analysis on the past, current and future disease burden caused by liver cancer in China.Results:1) Past situation: The long-term data from 1973 to 2012 reported by the CI5 showed that in urban populations in China (taking Shanghai as an example), the incidence rate of liver cancer in males and females decreased by 41.3 % and 36.3 %, respectively, and that in rural areas (taking Qidong as an example) decreased by 32.3 % and 12.2 %, respectively. The Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Reports showed that the national incidence and mortality rates of liver cancer decreased by 8.1 % and 12.8 % respectively from 2005 to 2015. The Joinpoint analysis based on the data from the China Health Statistics Yearbook also showed a declining trend: the average annual percentage change of liver cancer mortality in China from 2002 to 2017 was -3.0 % ( P<0.05), and that in rural areas was -3.1 % ( P<0.05). 2) Current status: GLOBOCAN estimates that the rates of incidence, mortality and prevalence of liver cancer in China in 2018 were 18.3 per 100 000, 17.1 per 100 000 and 10.8 per 100 000, respectively. According to the latest annual report, the incidence and mortality rates of liver cancer in cancer registration areas in 2015 were 17.6 per 100 000 and 15.3 per 100 000, respectively, and both increased with age. The mortality rate was similar to that reported in 2017 (16.7 per 100 000) by the China Death Cause Surveillance Datasets, and the male to female ratio of live cancer deaths was estimated as 3.1. The GBD 2017 reports that the DALYs caused by liver cancer in China reached 11 153.0 thousand in 2017 (accounting for 53.7 % of the global DALYs) and hepatitis B virus infection was always the leading cause. 3) Prediction: The GLOBOCAN 2018 predicts that, by 2040, the number of liver cancer cases and deaths in China would reach 591 000 and 572 000 (with an increase of 50.5 % and 54.9 %, respectively, compared with those in 2018), with a more significant increase in people over 70 years old. 4) Economic burden: According to the literature review of economic burden data on liver cancer, the direct medical expenditure per patient with liver cancer generally showed a rising trend. Conclusions:Multiple data sources indicate that the incidence and mortality rates of liver cancer in populations in China decreased in the past decades, indicating the effect of population interventions. However, the population-level disease burden are still substantial, and comprehensive intervention strategies need to be continually strengthened and optimized, especially the primary and secondary prevention.