Hope in the form of precision proton radiation therapy to treat a range of tumors is about to become available in the Northwest. On Saturday, March 9, a year after breaking ground, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance will open its new proton therapy center for community tours. The open house, from 11 a.m. -2 p.m., will feature tours of the 60,000-square-foot facility, information stations, snacks and the chance to go inside the cyclotron—the 220-ton proton-delivering machine that is the center's lifesaving heart.
The proton therapy center is the result of a partnership between ProCure Treatment Center, Inc. and SCCA. ProCure brings expertise in proton therapy through its experienced management team, cutting-edge technology and its substantial investment in training for physicians and therapists. SCCA partnered with ProCure to bring this advanced medical technology to the region and to support SCCA's mission to provide the best cancer outcomes possible.
Located on UW Medicine's Northwest Hospital & Medical Center's campus at 1570 North 115th St., it will be the first proton therapy center within 1,000 miles of Seattle. The center is expected to treat approximately 1,400 patients annually and, like other SCCA clinical programs, attract patients from across the country and around the world.
The importance of proton therapy
Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment, and it is an important alternative to standard X-ray radiation for many types of cancer and some noncancerous tumors. While proton and X-ray therapy both kill cancer cells by preventing them from dividing and growing, protons can be controlled precisely to minimize radiation to healthy tissue.
Proton beams deposit the greatest amount of radiation into the tumor and then stop, which enable patients to receive higher doses with minimized damage to nearby healthy tissue.
The precision of proton therapy makes it especially effective for treating children, who are highly sensitive to the effects of radiation; and adults with anatomically complex tumors, such as those at the base of the skull and along the spinal cord. Patients who receive proton therapy generally experience few side effects because of the proton beam's ability to precisely target radiation.
ProCure is the only health care company in the world that has developed and is operating multiple proton centers. The Seattle facility is the fourth in the ProCure network, which also operates centers in Oklahoma City, Chicago and Somerset, N.J.
Learn more by visiting the SCCA Proton Therapy, A ProCure Center website.
