The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announces the
availability of proton therapy, a precise form of cancer radiation
that offers potentially life-changing benefits to children with
brain tumors and other solid tumors. The Hospital's Cancer Center
has recently begun using proton treatment at the new Roberts Proton
Therapy Center, a cutting-edge radiation oncology facility located
across the street from Children's Hospital in Penn Medicine's
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.
With a child diagnosed with a brain tumor, parents often face a
cruel dilemma. Conventional radiation treatment that offers
survival often risks severe side effects, including damage to
surrounding healthy tissue, as well as impairments to hearing,
vision, growth and cognition. The after-effects may impede a
child's daily life and may carry the prospect of lifelong
disability and dependence. In fact, the side effects are
potentially devastating enough that conventional radiation therapy
is not given to children under age two.
The Roberts Proton Therapy Center is the only proton therapy
facility in the country conceived with pediatric patients in mind
from the earliest planning stages. Children who receive proton
therapy in this $140 million state-of-the-art facility benefit from
a long-standing collaboration between Children's Hospital and
radiation oncologists at Penn Medicine. Young patients experience
family-focused pediatric care from a medical team who understands
the unique needs of children with cancer, while providing emotional
support for the entire family. Every detail has been considered--
from scheduling morning treatments for children who cannot eat
prior to anesthesia, to offering a dedicated child-oriented waiting
room and a dedicated pediatric anesthesia room.
"When the Roberts Proton Therapy Center's pediatric program is
fully operational, the Cancer Center at Children's Hospital will be
able to treat more children with proton therapy than all other
American proton centers combined, thereby reducing the negative
impact of cancer therapy for children from the Philadelphia region
and around the country" said John M. Maris, M.D., chief of Oncology
and director of the Cancer Center at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia.
With its extensive program of comprehensive services, the Cancer
Center is one of the largest pediatric cancer programs in the
United States. All cancer care is available at one location,
including doctor's visits, lab work and a full range of therapies.
In its most recent listings, U.S. News & World Report ranked
Children's Hospital first in cancer care among America's children's
hospitals.
In addition to its application for brain tumors, proton therapy
may also be appropriate for cancers of the head and neck, and
tumors located near the spinal cord, heart and lungs—sites
perilously close to vital organs.
The advent of proton therapy provides a dramatic reduction in
side effects when compared to conventional radiation. Because
protons can be more precisely aimed and concentrated on a tumor,
much less energy impacts normal tissue in front of and behind the
cancerous mass. At the same time, doctors may increase the
radiation dose focused on the tumor for optimum benefits.
Protons are positively charged particles, found in the nucleus
of every atom, but made available in this therapy by stripping away
electrons from hydrogen atoms. Although commonly manipulated by
physicists in high-energy particle accelerators in research
settings since the mid-20th century, protons are only gradually
becoming part of medical practice. There are currently only seven
proton therapy centers in the United States.
SOURCE