International Patients, Real Journeys
These accounts are summaries of published reporting on patients who travelled to China for diagnosis or advanced cancer treatment — each with a link to the original source. Individual outcomes vary; nothing here is a prediction of results for any other patient.
International Patient Journeys
7,000 km for 30 minutes: the first international patient treated with BNCT in Hainan
A 34-year-old physics professor from Russia — reported under the pseudonym "Sergey" — was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus, a rare and aggressive tumour of the facial sinus. Seven cycles of chemotherapy and immunotherapy did not stop the disease; reported effects included blurred vision and dental complications, and an April follow-up showed local recurrence in the left maxillary sinus together with a lymph node on the right side of the neck.
He first came across BNCT in a Russian patient support community. After making contact with Panboron (Hainan) BNCT Hospital — reported to be the institution approved to deliver BNCT clinically in mainland China, for unresectable locally advanced or recurrent head and neck cancer — the hospital held an online consultation. It confirmed that his recurrence was local with no distant metastases detected and that his case met the treatment criteria. He travelled to Hainan, arriving in China on 17 May.
His team, led by hospital president Wang Enmin, prepared an individualised plan. Treatment took place on 20 May: a boron-containing drug was administered intravenously, his treatment position was simulated, and a neutron beam was directed at the left maxillary sinus. The irradiation itself lasted about 30 minutes. According to the published report he experienced no marked adverse reactions and, the following day, said he felt better than before treatment — while noting that he still needed further observation. The hospital described him as its first international patient; at the time of that report it had completed 21 clinical BNCT treatments.
Sources: reporting by Hainan Daily and the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone (May 2026). Original report (Chinese) · Hainan Daily feature (Chinese) · Video report (Bilibili)
This account summarises published reporting, including a pseudonymous patient case. It is informational only, is not a testimonial for our service, and is not a prediction of results for any other patient.
From Jakarta and Baghdad to Guangzhou: two families, one proton therapy centre
Rafi, an Indonesian patient in his thirties, was diagnosed in late 2025 with a chordoma — a rare tumour with a reported incidence of roughly one in a million. After consultations in Indonesia and Malaysia, he was told that proton therapy might be the better option, because chordomas respond poorly to conventional radiotherapy. Neither country, however, had a proton facility. His wife began researching centres in India, Japan, Singapore and China, and the family ultimately chose Guangzhou Concord Cancer Hospital in southern China.
His multidisciplinary team designed a combined plan: surgery first, followed by proton therapy to treat any residual microscopic disease while protecting nerve function. Surgery was completed in March 2026, after which he began proton treatment at the hospital's centre — each session lasting about 20 minutes. As reported, the total cost of treatment in Guangzhou was less than half of the equivalent in Singapore, and the interval from diagnosis to the start of treatment was 13 days.
Aron, a young patient from Iraq, had a meningioma that recurred after three craniotomies, with the tumour lying against the brainstem, spinal cord and optic nerve. His father found that proton therapy is explicitly recommended in the NCCN guidelines for this type of case. After comparing options in Singapore, Europe and the United States, the family travelled more than 6,000 km and, in July 2025, completed all 30 proton radiotherapy sessions in Guangzhou.
Sources: report by Yangcheng Evening News, published 25 April 2026 Original report (Chinese). The report also states that the hospital's proton centre served more than 800 patients in its first 16 months, including patients from over 20 countries.
Summary of published reporting; patient names are pseudonyms used by the original publication. Informational only — not a testimonial for our service and not a prediction of results.
Two patients from New Zealand, one decision: having CAR-T in China
Michael Walters, 25, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2025. Several rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy did not work, and his doctors raised CAR-T therapy — collecting a patient's own immune cells, engineering them in the laboratory and returning them to fight the cancer. He looked into the United States, India and Australia. A hospital in Melbourne could offer the treatment, but at around US$600,000, which his family could not afford. In China, his treatment cost reportedly less than half of that. On 18 August 2026, as reported, he was told his lymphoma had achieved complete remission.
Josh Bronkhorst, 59, also from New Zealand, was diagnosed in December 2025. After four months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy his tumour was still growing, and his physician put the chance of success from another round of chemotherapy at about 15%. He chose to travel to China. He became, as reported, the first international patient to receive a solid-tumour CAR-T therapy after China approved the world's first such therapy in June 2026. He reported improving day by day, finished treatment on 16 August 2026 and flew home.
Why China? The report cites a physician at MD Anderson Cancer Center describing China's CAR-T price range as roughly US$150,000–230,000, against US$550,000–850,000 in the United States. Nine CAR-T products are reported to be approved in China — more than in any other country — and the treatment requires hospitals able to provide intensive care and multi-specialty support, which the international hospitals in Shanghai offer alongside medical-visa assistance and English-language care.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, 6 September 2026 (republished by Sohu) Original report (Chinese).
Note on hospitals: as reported, these patients were treated at international hospitals in Shanghai; this summary intentionally focuses on the availability of CAR-T therapy in China rather than on any single institution. CAR-T therapies approved in China are delivered at a number of accredited hospitals, including our partner hospital in Beijing. These patients were not treated by us and their cases are not testimonials for our service.
An 81-year-old Malaysian patient — and the treatment the heavy ion centre chose not to give
An 81-year-old woman from Malaysia developed upper abdominal discomfort in March 2025. A CT scan at a hospital in Malaysia showed a 3.2 × 2.6 cm mass in the head of the pancreas, strongly suspected to be pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Because of her age and general condition, surgery was judged difficult, leaving her family facing a difficult choice. They learned about heavy ion therapy for pancreatic tumours through Professor Ma Changying, a specially appointed expert at the hospital, and travelled to the heavy ion centre in China on 22 April 2025.
At the centre, PET/CT, endoscopic ultrasound-guided pancreatic biopsy and MRI led to a revised diagnosis: intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) rather than invasive pancreatic cancer. Applying the international Kyoto guidelines for the management of IPMN, together with her clinical picture, the team concluded that no immediate treatment was required — regular surveillance was appropriate. She was discharged after the workup, relieved, and expressed her thanks to the clinical team.
For international patients, this account illustrates something worth knowing before travelling for treatment: a rigorous second opinion can change the diagnosis — and sometimes the most valuable answer is that you do not yet need therapy.
Source: Gansu Wuwei Medical Science Academy / Wuwei Cancer Hospital, 6 May 2025 Original report (Chinese).
Summary of a report published by the hospital. This case involved diagnosis and surveillance, not heavy ion treatment. Informational only — not a prediction of results for any other patient.
Case Reports From Our Partner Hospitals
These are technology case reports published by our partner hospitals. Most describe patients from within China rather than international patients — we include them because they show how a given technology is actually used in clinical practice.
From inoperable to operable: complete tumour necrosis after Y-90 radioembolization
A 45-year-old man with a three-year history of hepatitis B was diagnosed with primary liver cancer in October 2021. In November 2021 — as the second patient in China to receive the therapy under a special-access programme — he was treated with yttrium-90 resin microspheres. At follow-up in December 2021 the tumour diameter had shrunk from 12 cm to 6 cm, a reported 87.7% reduction in tumour volume, while the volume of the healthy liver remnant grew by 16.9%. His alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level fell from 50,713 ng/mL before treatment to 24.2 ng/mL.
In June 2022 he was admitted to Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, where a multidisciplinary team — hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, radiology, anaesthesia, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, pathology and nursing — reviewed his case. Professor Dong Jiahong's team then performed a regular right hemihepatectomy. The operation lasted 3 hours 45 minutes; the patient was mobile on the second day and his main liver function indicators were within normal range by the fifth day.
Post-operative pathology confirmed complete necrosis of the tumour tissue, with no viable cancer cells, microvascular tumour thrombi or nerve invasion seen under the microscope. After discussion, the multidisciplinary team concluded that the liver tumour had achieved clinical cure, with no adjuvant therapy required. The patient returned to work and spoke about focusing on his two children's upcoming university entrance examination.
Source: Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, 26 October 2023 Original case report (Chinese) · Y-90 centre page
Summary of a hospital-published case report concerning a patient from China. Individual outcomes vary widely; this account is not a prediction of results for any other patient.
Where We Find & Verify Stories
Published media reports
International and Chinese media coverage of patients treated in China, summarised in our own words and always linked to the original article.
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Case reports published by the treating hospitals or their official channels, grouped separately above where the patient was not an international patient.
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Accounts patients have chosen to share themselves — published only with their explicit consent.
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