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Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida has welcomed the future of cancer care with the arrival of its 220-ton proton therapy cyclotron.
As the cornerstone of the only proton therapy center in South Florida, the cyclotron’s arrival ensures that patients in the region and across Latin America and the Caribbean no longer will need to travel far from home to access the treatment. The technology will offer pencil beam scanning – the most precise form of proton radiation treatment. Proton therapy destroys cancer cells with highly-targeted doses of radiation while avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing side effects, making it particularly effective in treating childhood cancers and adult cancers of the brain, liver and lung, as well as certain left-sided breast cancers and prostate cancers. Proton therapy treatment will be available at Miami Cancer Institute beginning in 2017.
“The arrival of the cyclotron signifies the beginning of the most sophisticated cancer treatment technology in the history of our organization,” said Brian E. Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida. “This historic milestone is not just one for Baptist Health to celebrate, but one for our entire community as we come together in the fight against cancer.”
“This is the most cutting-edge proton therapy technology available,” said Minesh Mehta, M.D., deputy director of the Miami Cancer Institute and chief of radiation oncology. “It uses a pencil-beam approach, allowing us to target more complicated tumors and, for most situations, further decreases radiation exposure to normal tissues in comparison to older proton techniques. That means that there is significantly less damage to healthy tissue, a decrease in side effects and less chance of a recurrence of cancer due to radiation exposure.”
In March 2015, Baptist Health South Florida signed an agreement with IBA, the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions for the treatment of cancer.
“We are very pleased that Miami Cancer Institute selected IBA as their partner to bring the most advanced proton therapy to their patients in South Florida as well as the Latin America region,” said Beth Klein, president of IBA PT North America. “Our 30-plus years of experience elicits confidence in our ability to support the swift construction and installation of this equipment, which means providing faster access to the technology for their patients.”
