The Roberts Proton Therapy Center
Opening in 2009
The Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine will
house a first-of-its-kind proton therapy center
for the treatment of cancer. The Roberts
Proton Therapy Center, opening in 2009, was financed
in part by a generous gift of $15 million from
University of Pennsylvania alumni Ralph
J. Roberts and his son, Brian L. Roberts.
The Roberts Proton Therapy Center will be the largest proton therapy center associated with an academic medical center in the world and one of only six such centers in the country. It will also be the world's most comprehensive proton therapy center, offering the unique ability to fully integrate conventional radiation treatment with proton radiation.
The radiation dose that is given through protons is more precise, and the undesirable dose to normal tissues is considerably less. Because of this special quality of protons, the radiation oncologist can increase the dose to the tumor while reducing the dose to surrounding normal tissues. This in turn may allow the dose to be increased beyond that which conventional radiation will allow, resulting in a higher probability of cure and with fewer harmful side effects.
It is
projected that the Roberts
Proton Therapy Center will treat 3,000
patients a year, including several hundred children,
continuing the historically close relationship
between UPHS and The
Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia. The Roberts
Proton Therapy Center expects
to treat its first patient in 2009.
In addition, Penn has established a new relationship
with Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, through
which proton therapy technology will be available
to treat United States military personnel and
veterans.
First in History
The Robert's Proton Therapy Center will be
the:
- first such
facility in the mid-Atlantic region
- first in the world to be fully integrated,
on-site, with a renowned cancer center, the
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of
Pennsylvania
- first proton therapy center to be located
on the campus of a world-class academic medical
center, a
provision that will facilitate scientific research
to measure and improve this innovative therapy
- first facility with precise imaging integrated
onto the proton equipment, allowing physicians
to know precise tumor location at the exact
moment of treatment
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