UC Health, Cincinnati Children's Partner to Offer Proton Beam Therapy

UC Health and the UC Cancer Institute are partnering with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to open a new Proton Therapy Center, providing a unique form of radiotherapy for some pediatric and adult patients with cancer. Proton equipment including the 90-ton cyclotron—the heart of the system that produces the proton beam—was delivered to the Cincinnati Children’s Liberty campus on Wednesday, July 29.

Before and after installation of the cyclotron, each of three 300-ton gantries are being installed. The gantries are the equipment that surrounds the patient and delivers the proton beam. Treatment at the facility is anticipated to begin in 2016.

"The Cincinnati Children’s/UC Health Proton Therapy Center is one of the most technologically advanced cancer facilities in existence,” says Director of the facility John Breneman, MD, professor emeritus of radiation oncology and neurosurgery, as well as chief of pediatric radiotherapy at Cincinnati Children’s and a member of the UC Cancer Institute. "This facility, together with the expertise of the faculty of the UC College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s, will give patients in our region access to a level of cancer care available in only a handful of locations around the world.”

Below are some quick facts about the facility, proton therapy and what it means for the Tristate. 

How does proton therapy work?

It is a form of radiation therapy used to treat certain types of cancers and lymphomas. From the UC Health and/or adult care perspective, this targeted treatment is specifically helpful in cancers of the brain, eyes, head and neck, lungs, prostate and spinal cord. A major advantage over traditional forms of radiotherapy is its ability to deliver radiation to a tumor area with remarkable precision. This approach avoids radiation exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue reducing long-term side effects that often occur with conventional radiation therapy and increasing the chance of cure for some tumors. In addition, the proton beams can target tumors located closer to critical structures.

How many patients are eventually going to be treated at this facility?

The center is expected to treat an average of at least 200 adult patients per year from the region and drawn from across the country and overseas. This will allow patients who may otherwise have traveled to Knoxville, Cleveland and Chicago or beyond the convenience of this unique and specialized procedure closer to home. 

How many proton cancer therapy centers have been built and are operating?

There are about 23 proton therapy centers operating across North America currently and just about the same number in some phase of planning or construction.

What is the cost of this project?

The total cost of the project, including the new pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute clinic at Liberty, is approximately $120 million. UC Health has an extended rental agreement with Cincinnati Children’s and provides physician staffing and the non-physician technical staff for the entire facility. Cincinnati Children’s provides ancillary and support staff. 

Who are the contractors on this project?

The general contractor is a joint venture between Messer Construction, a Cincinnati-based contractor, and Linbeck Group, a Houston-based contractor with extensive experience in constructing proton therapy facilities. Varian Medical Systems is the provider of the medical equipment needed to do proton therapy treatment.  

What is the job impact of this new facility?

About 32 jobs will be created with this new facility; these jobs involve direct patient care and facility operations. About half of the staff is physicists and highly skilled technical personnel. The remainder is clinical and support staff. Four to six physicians will also be staffing the facility. It will also serve the mission of education, as UC Health is an affiliate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Not only will residents within the Department of Radiation Oncology complete rotations in the facility, but also, medical students, physicists, radiation techs at the UC Health Barrett Cancer Center and at West Chester will be trained in the facility, giving them a leg up in the health care field and growing the number of trained professionals within the UC Health system. Additionally, the center contains cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art teaching facilities, and will conduct medical and technical training in proton therapy for specialists from around the world.

What is different or unique about this proton therapy center versus ones already in operation?

The UC Health Proton Facility has the only gantry dedicated to basic research in the country; the research component also involves Cincinnati Children’s and Varian. It is one of five facilities in the country that is hospital owned. The center will host the annual meeting of the Particle Therapy Cooperative Oncology Group (PTCOG) in 2018. This is an international meeting of medical professionals using proton therapy, and is expected to attract over 1,000 participants from around the world.