|
|
|
Construction workers deliver a 220-ton cyclotron to Central DuPage Hospital's Proton Therapy Center, a ProCure Center, in Warrenville on Monday morning. The cyclotron is at the core of proton therapy treatment, an alternative to radiation therapy for cancer patients.
Danielle Gardner/Staff Photographer
|
|
|
|
Cancer survivor Susan Heuer of Chicago (second from left) talks with John Cameron (second from right), chairman and president of ProCure Treatment Centers, and Warrenville Mayor David Brummel (right) during a press event Monday morning celebrating the delivery of a 220-ton cyclotron to Central DuPage Hospital's Proton Therapy Center, a ProCure Center, in Warrenville. At left is cancer survivor Josh Prochotsky, 17, of Libertyville. Danielle Gardner/Staff Photographer
|
As seen in the Naperville Sun
Published September 29, 2009
By Hank Beckman
When Susan Heuer developed a malignant tumor behind her nasal passage, the only way to save her eyesight was to travel to Massachusetts for proton therapy, an alternative to the traditional radiation treatment.
"It was the only thing that would help without me going blind," she said.
Thanks to a new Central DuPage Hospital facility near Naperville, local cancer patients will be able to receive the treatment they need without traveling far from home.
Heuer spoke Monday at the unveiling of the 220-ton cyclotron, which measures 8 feet tall by 18 feet wide. It is capable of ionizing protons, making it the key piece of equipment in delivering proton radiation therapy.
The cyclotron was built by a Belgian company and traveled four weeks by ship, arriving at Indiana's Burns International Harbor, where it was loaded onto two 180-foot trailers for the 130-mile trip to the site at 4525 Weaver Parkway just north of Diehl Road in Warrenville.
The CDH Proton Therapy Center, a 60,000-square-foot facility capable of handling 1,500 patients per year, will be run in partnership with ProCure Treatment Centers and Radiation Oncology Consultants Ltd., functioning as part of the CDH Comprehensive Outpatient Cancer Treatment Center. The facility is set to open in the spring.
The advantage proton therapy radiation holds over traditional X-ray treatment is that it is able to be far more specific in delivering treatment to selected spots of the body.
While the traditional therapy has saved many lives, it also damages healthy tissue near the tumor and causes far more side effects and long-term problems than proton therapy, proponents say.
Moreover, proton therapy is able to adjust the treatment for the specific depth it is needed for the tumor, one of the reasons Heuer has her eyesight today.
"We know it's safer than the standard therapy," said Dr. William Hartsell, president of Radiation Oncology Consultants.
Hartsell said proton therapy was especially critical in treating cancers in a variety of cases, including children's cancers and malignancies near sensitive areas, such as the brain or a patient's spinal cord.
President and founder of ProCure John Cameron is excited at the prospect of the company's second proton therapy center.
"This makes us unique," he said. "We are the first (American) company to have two centers."
Although proton therapy treatment has been around for more than 50 years, its expense made it rare for most cancer patients. Currently there are six proton therapy centers operating in the United States.
Cameron, a physicist, called proton therapy an emerging technology that is likely to be used in 30 to 50 percent of all cancer treatments within the next decade.
The new treatment facility certainly hits home for Heuer, who said she "hopes no one will ever have to be on the receiving end" of any cancer treatments. However, she said, the financial and emotional burden of having to leave home to get the treatment you need makes a horrible situation even worse.
"There's nothing worse than to leave home for two months," she said.