Philippine Red Cross, Tokushukai Explore Bringing Breakthrough BNCT Cancer Therapy to the Philippines
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and Japan’s Tokushukai Medical Group are exploring collaboration to bring advanced cancer treatment technologies to the Philippines following a strategic meeting at the PRC National Headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
The Tokushukai delegation was led by Dr. Shuzo Kobayashi, Ph.D., Executive Managing Director of Tokushukai Medical Group and President & CEO of Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, together with Ms. Meg Ohashi, R.N., BSN, h-MBA, Chief Strategic Officer of Shonan Kamakura General Hospital; Dr. Kenji Shuto, MPH, Vice Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture; and Mr. Kiyoshi Wakamiya, Advisor of Tokushukai Medical Corporation.
Discussions focused on PRC’s plans to develop a new hospital along EDSA and on expanding access to cutting-edge cancer care for Filipinos through international partnerships.
PRC is opening pathways to access leading-edge oncology technologies, including Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)—a highly targeted Japanese cancer treatment that allows a boron-based medicine to concentrate in cancer cells and be activated by a controlled neutron beam for about 30 minutes, destroying cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Unlike conventional radiation therapy, BNCT can often be completed in a single session and is currently available in only about 10–11 facilities worldwide.
The partnership also explores X-ray IMRT (TomoTherapy) and Proton Therapy, both advanced radiation treatments now considered first-line options for many pediatric and hard-to-treat cancers.
PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon said, “This will be a game changer for cancer care in the Philippines. Through this partnership, we are bringing the most advanced, life-saving technologies closer to Filipinos—especially those who have long been denied access to world-class treatment.”
Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, a tertiary acute-care institution, provides advanced radiation therapies and is preparing to initiate BNCT, while Tokushukai Medical Group operates approximately 90 hospitals and over 340 medical, nursing, and welfare facilities across Japan.
