SOMERSET, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Underscoring a united commitment to advancing patient care for the treatment of cancer, ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc. along with CentraState Healthcare System and Princeton Radiation Oncology today announced the official opening of the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Somerset, N.J. The center is the third to open in a national network of proton centers being developed by ProCure. It is one of only 10 centers that offer proton therapy nationwide.
To mark the critical milestone, members of the local community will gather for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, presentation and tour of the cutting-edge center which features the engine of the center, its cyclotron which accelerates protons to two-thirds the speed of light to stop with sub-millimeter precision in order to destroy a tumor.
“At CentraState, we truly believe that patients who can benefit from protons should have access locally to this important treatment option,” said John T. Gribbin, FACHE, president and CEO of CentraState Health System of Freehold, N.J. “For this reason, we collaborated with both Princeton Radiation Oncology and ProCure Treatment Centers to make this aspiration a reality. We’re thrilled that we’ll be able to help patients with cancer in our local area – and beyond.”
The 60,000-square-foot proton center took less than two years to complete and features four treatment rooms – all leveraging the latest technology in the field of proton therapy to be able to treat a wide range of patients. Once fully operational, the center will be able to treat about 1,500 patients a year.
Proton therapy is a precise form of radiation treatment for cancer without many of the short- and long-term side effects often experienced with standard X-ray radiation. The clinical benefits of protons are significant: increased tumor control, improved quality of life and reduced damage to healthy tissue, all made possible because the proton radiation dose is designed to peak in the tumor, emitting a radiation dose of almost zero once it leaves the tumor. Studies have shown proton therapy to be effective in treating many types of tumors, including brain, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, head and neck, lung and prostate, as well as sarcomas and many pediatric cancers.
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