SCCA, ProCure announce opening of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy

Mar 8 2013

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) and ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc. (ProCure) announced the opening of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy, A ProCure Center today in Seattle, Washington. Located on UW Medicine's Northwest Hospital & Medical Center campus, the facility is the only proton therapy center in a seven-state region and the fourth in a nationwide network of proton therapy centers developed by ProCure. Proton therapy is a next-generation radiation treatment that precisely targets tumors, minimizing radiation to healthy tissue and improving the lives of patients with cancer. Doctors started treating patients at the new center this month.

To celebrate the center's opening, members of the local community are invited to gather on Saturday, March 9, for an open house from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., which will include a tour of the facility's cyclotron, the core piece of equipment used in proton therapy to create protons and transport them as a beam of energy and deliver targeted radiation treatment to cancer patients.

"SCCA's mission is to provide the best available treatment for cancer patients and we believe that this new center will do just that," said Norm Hubbard, executive vice president of SCCA. "We're thrilled to offer our patients access to this extraordinary form of treatment and began treating the first proton therapy patient in our region this week."

Proton therapy is an advanced and highly precise form of radiation treatment. It allows doctors to focus radiation directly into the tumor, minimizing damage to surrounding tissue and the risk of short- and long-term side effects from treatment. Currently available at only eleven centers in the United States, studies have shown proton therapy to be beneficial in treating a broad range of tumors, including those of the brain, central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, head and neck, left breast, lung, and prostate, as well as sarcomas and certain pediatric cancers. This milestone exemplifies SCCA's mission to provide the best available treatment for cancer patients and is a testament to Seattle's leadership in cancer care.

"My prostate cancer treatment hasn't impacted my health or quality of life," said Pat Purcell, a prostate cancer survivor who received proton therapy treatment in 2011. "I chose proton therapy so that I could maintain my active lifestyle for the next 50 years."

Like other clinical programs at SCCA, the proton center is expected to attract patients nationally and internationally, with the ability to treat about 1,400 proton therapy patients annually. Patients at SCCA Proton Therapy will benefit from the pairing of top cancer experts with the most advanced technology available. SCCA, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine, and Seattle Children's form the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Northwest. The center's doctors are all UW Medicine physicians with expert training on proton therapy administration.

"Proton therapy is the future of radiation oncology and the powerful partnership between SCCA and ProCure reflects our commitment to improving and transforming the lives of patients with cancer," said Annika Andrews, president of SCCA Proton Therapy, A Procure Center. "Bringing this promising treatment to the Northwest, which more than 80,000 patients have received worldwide, allows our patients to receive the best care available while staying close to home."