Proton therapy facility opens to showcase technology

The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute held an open house at IU's cyclotron facility Monday. The event gave the public an opportunity to tour the facility and witness first hand how the cyclotron is being used for both research and proton radiotherapy. \n"We really wanted to open the place up to the public before we open up the medical facility," said Allan Thornton, medical director at MPRI. "I've actually had people bring a lot of friends and family who may be potential patients."\nThe proton therapy facility is the first of its kind in the Midwest and the third in the United States. Three treatment rooms are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by 2005, with the first one to be completed this July. They hope to treat 1,000 patients per year once all three rooms are fully functional. \n"The robotics and technology is truly state of the art, even for a proton facility, which, by definition represents the paramount of radiation therapy," Thornton said.\nMPRI was founded in 1996 and began carrying out clinical trials testing the effectiveness of proton therapy on the choroidal neovascular membrane, a condition associated with deterioration of vision in elderly people. \nProton therapy is different than conventional radiation therapy in that the radiation can be focused on a small area and does not penetrate through to the other side of the tissue. \n"The response has been very positive from medical professionals, scientists and cancer patients," said Dennis Friesel, project manager for the construction of the proton therapy facility. "We conducted these tours to give people an idea of what proton therapy can do for cancer patients."\nHe added that the facility is expected to cover a five to six state area, providing mostly for the Midwest. \n"This is a very effective way of treating localized cancerous tumors," Friesel said. "You can kill the cancerous tumor with very little collateral damage."\nIU's first cyclotron was operational by 1941, just three years after the first cyclotron in the nation was built and was kept in Swain Hall. It was used until 1966 when construction of the current cyclotron began. \nHans Tischler, a retired IU musicology professor, found the tours informative even though much of it dealt with technical terms.\n"I'm not a physicist, but I can see for myself that this is a very impressive facility," Tischler said. "It gives hope to a lot of people."\nThe MPRI was started with the help of a state donation of $10 million as well as federal grants. Continuous funding is expected to be covered by medical receipts. \n"Treatment normally lasts six to eight weeks and can vary anywhere between $15,000 and $50,000," said Thornton.\nDespite the cost, he said there were already patients signed up for treatment, including the first pediatric patient.