Mevion Medical Systems announced today that it has delivered the synchrocyclotron accelerator for the MEVION S250i Proton Therapy System® to Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) on March 28, 2020. The 15-ton accelerator, the world’s smallest, was driven up the side of the Red Butte Canyon and was lowered by a crane into the proton facility the same day.
“With the arrival of the accelerator, we are on track to provide proton therapy to our patients later this year,” said Dennis Shrieve, M.D, Ph.D., radiation oncologist at HCI and professor and chair of radiation oncology at the U of U.
The system, now under installation, features Mevion’s industry-leading HYPERSCAN® Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) technology. HYPERSCAN improves on existing scanning capabilities to deliver more conformal fields of therapeutic radiation to tumors faster, with more precision and is the most advanced pencil beam scanning available. HCI, Utah’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been closely tracking and considering proton therapy for over a decade. Recent technological advances by Mevion made it the right time to add this powerful cancer-fighting tool to their cancer center. HCI will also integrate* Siemen’s SOMATOM® Definition Edge CT on rails to provide precise image-guided proton therapy (IGPT).
“Proton therapy is especially effective in delivering targeted radiation while preserving healthy tissues. Patients with tumors close to critical organs along with pediatric cancer patients can benefit the most from this advanced treatment,” said Bill Salter, Ph.D., director of radiation oncology at HCI and professor and chief of the division of medical physics at the U of U. “The HYPERSCAN system will be a powerful new addition to Huntsman Cancer Institute’s already formidable suite of treatment tools.”
By reducing the size and complexity of a proton therapy system, Mevion has allowed hospitals to offer proton therapy without the enormous expenditures and space requirements needed by other single-room or multi-room proton systems. Today, more cancer centers are considering providing compact proton therapy to their patients because of the technology Mevion has advanced.
“We are honored to provide Utah with the first proton therapy center in the Mountain West,” said Tina Yu, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Mevion Medical Systems. “HCI is a nationally recognized research center and treatment hospital and we look forward to building our partnership to advance the science and application of proton therapy.”