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Proton: Proton Therapy
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Proton Beam Therapy is a new type of cancer treatment. It is a localized form of radiation therapy, in which a proton beam is directed solely at a tumor lying deep within the body in order to destroy the tumor. When a proton beam is used to treat a tumor, the side effects are minimal compared with those of a conventional electron beam and X-ray radiation therapy. This is because the proton beam has little effect on the surrounding healthy tissue and only the cancerous cells are treated. Compared with surgical treatment and chemotherapy, the strain on the patient is reduced.
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Proton therapy is the most precise and advanced form of radiation treatment today. It primarily radiates the tumor site, leaving surrounding healthy tissue and organs intact. Conventional x-ray radiation often radiates healthy tissue in its path and surrounding the tumor site. Chemotherapy moves throughout the entire body, unlike radiation and surgery which are considered "site specific" treatments.
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Protons.com officially launched in August with rich interactive content including streaming video and a virtual tour to help patients educate themselves and increase their comfort level with the proton therapy process. The Proton Treatment Center is now at the top of many relevant search rankings, and traffic has increased dramatically. In its first three weeks alone, the site saw an increase in daily unique visitors of 1200%, a 20-fold increase in page views, and a 600% rise in traffic sources. As a result of this rapid success, LLUMC is transitioning much of its advertising budget from traditional media to the Web.
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Proton beam therapy requires a treatment team, including a radiation oncologist, radiation physicist, dosimetrist, immobilization specialist, radiation therapist, and nurse. The radiation oncologist is a specially trained physician who evaluates the patient and determines the appropriate therapy, specific area for treatment, and radiation dose. Working together, the radiation oncologist, radiation physicist, dosimetrist and radiation therapist establish the best way to deliver the prescribed dose. The radiation physicist and the dosimetrist then make detailed treatment calculations. Radiation therapists are specially trained technologists who perform the daily radiation treatments. Imaging studies are very important in delivering this treatment and a diagnostic radiologist is often involved with planning, too.
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Proton radiotherapy was first proposed in 1946 and by 1954 the first patient had been treated. From the early 1960's until the late 1980's, proton therapy was investigated for clinical efficacy at small research facilities. The first hospital based proton facility opened at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California in 1990. About twenty institutions around the world have since installed proton therapy systems and treated over 50,000 patients. Still River Systems is dedicated to dramatically increasing the availability of this form of therapy to cancer centers, physicians and patients around the world.
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Proton therapy had been limited to physics research labs until 1990. And like most new technologies, building a proton center can be an expensive endeavor for most universities and academic medical centers.The newest proton facilities to start treating patients in the last two years include the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, and theM.D. Anderson Proton Therapy Center in Houston.Both are now treating60-80 patients daily as of 2008.
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