If you travelled down Orange Avenue recently you may have noticed some delays, due to a very important delivery. One lane of southbound Orange Avenue, between Underwood and Miller, right by ORMC, was shut down on November 16 to accommodate the shipment of 40 tons of equipment to the Orlando Health construction site of the new Proton Therapy Center.
The $25 million facility, which will house Central Florida’s first proton therapy center, will provide cancer patients with a form of radiation therapy that uses proton beams to shrink tumors. It’s a revolutionary tool to fight cancer, but building a proton therapy center is no easy feat. The very heavy parts of the proton accelerator, the machine that generates proton therapy, have to be transported on multiple semi-trucks all the way from Boston. Then, it takes a crane to move the pieces from the trucks into the proton center’s vault through the ceiling.
This was the first of two deliveries of equipment. Once completed, the entire proton therapy machine will weigh 84 tons which is equivalent to the weight of a fully loaded Boeing 747-800 airplane.
The 14,000 square foot Proton Therapy Center will consist of three floors – two above ground and one underground – in order to accommodate the MEVION S250 superconducting synchrocyclotron proton accelerator. Proton therapy is capable of more focused radiation delivery than current radiation treatment using X-rays or electrons. Treating tumors using proton therapy delivers a lower dose of radiation to surrounding normal tissue, which results in fewer side effects. Pediatric patients in particular benefit from the decreased dose to normal tissue, as their bodies are still growing. Proton therapy has traditionally been used for brain and spine tumors, which are often located near vital organs. In addition to brain and spine cancer, proton therapy is also used for a wide variety of cancers including breast, lung, prostate, gastrointestinal and head and neck cancers.
Patients will begin treatment at the Proton Therapy Center in mid-2015. More than 30 patients a day are expected to be treated with the new proton accelerator. Orlando Health will join an elite group of centers around the world to offer proton therapy. To date there are only 37 proton therapy centers in the world, just 11 of those are here in the United States.
