Official name:

  • EN: Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital Heavy Ion Center (HIMM)
  • CN: 甘肃省武威肿瘤医院重离子中心

Country, city, address: China, Gansu Province, Wuwei, Liangzhou District, Tianyi Road, "Heavy Ion Health Town". The exact address from the publications: No. 31, Sanitari Lane, Haizang Street, Uwey, 733000. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov +1

Year of establishment:

  • The registration certificate for the heavy ion therapy system was issued by the National Medical Products Administration on September 29, 2019.
  • Clinical operation began in March 2020.

Clinic type:A state-specialized oncology hospital of the highest category (class 3A), specializing in radiation therapy with heavy (carbon) ions. It is included in the list of “100 most trusted model hospitals in China.”Main specializations:

  • Carbon-ion radiation therapy (CIRT) — the center’s only specialization
  • 6 radiation therapy departments based in Uwey and 3 based in Lanzhou (branch)
  • Multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT) for complex and rare tumors

Key technologies:

  • HIMM (Heavy Ion Medical Machine)— the first domestic carbon‑ion therapy system of its own design in China, developed by the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with Lanzhou Kejin Taiji.
  • Acceleration of carbon ions to ~70 % of the speed of light (up to 400 MeV/nucleon) using two ion sources based on electron‑cyclotron resonance, a cyclotron injector, and a synchrotron.
  • 4 treatment rooms with passive and active beam systems.
  • Briggs peak is a three‑dimensional dose distribution: maximum energy in the tumor, minimal damage to surrounding tissues.
  • The center is also developing nuclear medicine: targeted radionuclide therapy as an addition to external radiation.n.

Diseases that the clinic treats:

  • Tumors of the cranial base — chordoma, chondrosarcoma, pituitary adenoma, craniopharyngioma, cranial base meningioma, olfactory neuroblastoma
  • Head and neck — nasopharyngeal cancer, other head and neck tumors
  • Chest — lung cancer (eligible for CIRT), esophageal cancer
  • Abdominal cavity and pelvis — liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer
  • Bone and soft tissue tumors — osteosarcoma, soft tissue sarcomas.
  • Other — recurrent tumors after conventional radiation therapy, radioresistant tumors, melanoma (including choroid).

Over 3,200 patients have been treated to date (according to the website — more than 3,200; according to CancerFax — 1,800+ as of the end of 2024).

International center: Yes. The center accepts foreign patients — cases from Belgium, South Korea, and Australia have been confirmed. The website has an English version with a section for international patients. International training courses are held: the 3rd International Conference on Carbon Ion Therapy was held in Wuwei in September 2026. There is a consulting office in Xi’an (Shaanxi). cancerfax.com +1

Languages: Chinese (main). English — via the website and coordination. For foreign patients, translation and support are organized through third‑party coordinator platforms (CancerFax, FindMedChina). No direct Russian‑language service was found on the website.cancerfax.com +1

Doctors / leading specialists:By publications in peer-reviewed journals (PMC) and clinical registries: 

  • Zhang Yanshan — Director of the Heavy Ion Center, Head of Clinical Research. ORCID: 0000-0003-4621-148X
  • Ye Yancheng (Yan-Cheng Ye) — PhD, Chief Physician of the Heavy Ion Center
  • Li Xiaojun, Doctor at the Heavy Ion Center, researcher
  • Zhang Yihe (Yihe Zhang) is a medical researcher
  • Hu Tingchao (Ting-Chao Hu) — Doctor of the Heavy Ion Center
  • Jin-Hua Han — Department of Ophthalmology

The entire team works in conjunction with the scientific staff of the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The center's specialists have been trained in Germany, the USA, Japan and the Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Therapy Center. 

Equipment:

  • The HIMM accelerator system: 2 ion sources based on ECR resonance → cyclotron‑injector → synchrotron (perimeter 56 m) indico.cern.ch +1
  • 4 treatment rooms (passive and active beam scanning)
  • Beam energy: 100–430 MeV/nucleon 
  • The system is registered as a Class III medical device by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA)
  • The capacity is 1,600 places.

Official website: — English version: https://en.wwzlz.cn/