ProCure Proton Therapy Center for Cancer Treatment on Pace to Begin Treating Patients in 2012
SOMERSET, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A 220-ton cyclotron, the core of what will soon be New Jersey’s most advanced radiation treatment center, will be ending a 3,700-mile journey that began in Belgium, arriving at the construction site of the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Somerset, N.J., March 1.
The cyclotron, which accelerates the protons to two-thirds the speed of light before they are formed into a treatment beam, is the core piece of equipment used in proton therapy, an alternative to standard X-ray radiation for the treatment of cancer. Because of its precision, proton therapy spares more healthy tissue than standard radiation therapy and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects. The Center is the result of a collaboration between ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc. (ProCure), Princeton Radiation Oncology , and CentraState Healthcare System, and will be the first proton therapy center in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.
“This is an important day and a significant milestone for the proton center and patients with cancer from throughout New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area,” said Hadley Ford, CEO of ProCure. “Construction is advancing ahead of schedule since our groundbreaking last April and we anticipate we will be treating patients by early 2012.”
“We are counting the days until we open this proton center and patients begin arriving for treatment,” said Brian Chon, M.D., medical director of ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Somerset, N.J., and a radiation oncologist and partner with Princeton Radiation Oncology, the radiation oncology practice that will provide clinical care at the Center. “A number of our physicians in this practice have experience with proton therapy and know what a meaningful advance and significant treatment option this is for many patients.”
Currently available at only nine centers in the United States, proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment and an important alternative to standard X-ray radiation for many patients with cancer and for some non-cancerous tumors. Proton therapy has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of a broad range of tumor types including brain, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, head and neck, lung and prostate as well as sarcomas and many pediatric cancers. The precision of proton therapy makes it especially effective for treating children and adults with anatomically complex tumors such as those at the base of the skull and tumors along the spinal cord.
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