Siteman Cancer Center to Offer New Proton Beam Therapy Center in 2008
June 16, 2006, ST. LOUIS – Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center are taking the first step in offering a revolutionary way to treat cancer patients who need radiation therapy.
On June 7, Barnes-Jewish Hospital submitted a letter of intent to file a certificate of need (CON) with the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee. When approved, Barnes-Jewish Hospital will spend approximately $20 million to be the first in the country to offer a new generation proton beam – the Clinatron 250 Proton Beam Radiotherapy System™ – at the Siteman Cancer Center in late 2008.
The system would be housed in a proposed site across Euclid Ave. at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine''s Center for Advanced Medicine. It would allow for street access to a new Proton Beam Therapy Center, proposed to be located in shell space between the Parkway Hotel and the Center for Advanced Medicine''s North Garage.
Proton beam therapy is exciting to physicians, who say it offers patients with certain types of cancers dramatically better outcomes than they experience today.
"This technology is unique because it allows us to target tumors with precision by adjusting the depth of the radiation and avoiding a collateral dose that would expose other organs," says Simon Powell, MD, chief of radiation oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.
According to Dr. Powell, the center should treat 250 patients per year. One third of those patients would be pediatric, another third would be patients suffering from cancer in the central nervous system and the final third would offer patients new therapies for lung, prostate and abdominal cancers.
"This therapy will allow us to offer new ways to treat many types of cancers," says Dr. Powell.
For example, precision in radiation therapy is important when treating growing children. "A child may have a tumor on their spine and we can avoid exposing other areas of their body to radiation," says Dr. Powell. "This technology reduces the risk of growth defects in vital organs of the body."
Proton beam therapy is currently available at only a few centers nationally, including Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and MD Anderson in Houston. These machines cost up to $120 million to implement and require a large facility for clinical operations.
However, this new machine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Siteman Cancer Center – which is smaller and will stand in its own vault in the Proton Beam Therapy Center – will be the first in the nation of its kind. A development partnership has been established with Still River Systems Inc. of Littleton, MA, who will build the proton beam unit on-site.
When this new initiative is completed, it will add another dimension to the comprehensive nature of the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, the only National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in Missouri and within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis. Siteman is also one of only 20 national members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the world''s leading cancer centers dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives.
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The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is an international leader in cancer treatment, research, prevention, education and community outreach. It is the only cancer center in Missouri and within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis to hold the prestigious comprehensive cancer center designation from the National Cancer Institute. The Siteman Cancer Center offers the extensive expertise of more than 300 Washington University research scientists and physicians, many of whom provide care for nearly 6,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients and more than 30,000 follow-up patients each year at Siteman''s main St. Louis campus and at satellite facilities in two adjacent counties. These scientists and physicians hold $130 million in cancer research and related training grants. The results of basic laboratory research are rapidly incorporated into treatment advances, a process that is enhanced by patient access to more than 350 cancer clinical trials. In addition, Siteman''s cancer screening and educational efforts touch tens of thousands of lives annually throughout the St. Louis region.