Construction of a proton radiotherapy center, intended for the non-invasive treatment of complex cancers, began on Thursday at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. It will be the first center of this type in Poland and Central Europe.
Project manager prof. Paweł Olko informed that the Bronowice Cyclotron Center (CCB) will non-invasively treat neoplasms located in any area of the body. The treatment will be carried out with the use of a cyclotron, i.e. an accelerator accelerating the proton beams to the energy of 235 MeV.
The scientist explained that irradiation uses a beam of protons – particles with a positive electric charge – which during the therapy are accelerated in the cyclotron to enormous speeds, and after leaving it are directed to the area of the tumor.
The center will also be a research center. It will conduct experiments in the field of nuclear physics and work in the field of radiation physics, radiobiology and materials engineering.
Establishing the center will cost about PLN 200 million, more than half of which will come from EU funding under the Innovative Economy Program. The remaining money will be transferred by the state budget. The opening of the Bronowice Cyclotron Center is scheduled for the end of 2013.
The project will be implemented in two phases. In the first stage, a center will be built equipped with the Proteus C-235 cyclotron along with the technical infrastructure for proton radiotherapy of the eyeball. It will enable the treatment of deeper tumors in the area of the optic nerve and retrobulbar tumors. Ultimately, 150 patients a year will undergo such therapy.
In the second phase, by the end of 2014, the cyclotron will be equipped with a rotating arm stand, which will allow for very precise directing of the proton beam on the patient’s body. This will allow proton therapy for the most difficult to treat neoplasms located in any part of the body. One such stand will treat up to 500 patients a year.
The cyclotron and experimental halls will be placed in a specially built bunker with a wall and ceiling thickness of 3-4 meters, which will ensure complete protection of people and the environment against ionizing radiation.
The project is being carried out by the Institute of Nuclear Physics Henryk Niewodniczański of the Polish Academy of Sciences as part of the Consortium of the National Center for Hadron Radiotherapy. The consortium consists of 12 scientific and therapeutic units from all over the country.
The first Proton Radiotherapy Laboratory in Poland has been operating for several months at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków, which uses the smaller AIC 144 cyclotron installed there to treat eye cancer. Last month, two patients underwent the first successful treatments of irradiation of eyeball tumors.
The experience of similar medical centers in Europe shows that proton radiotherapy in more than 90 percent. patients leads to the complete destruction of tumor cells. (PAP)