Tampa General and Moffitt to bring proton therapy to Tampa Bay cancer patients

TAMPA — Hailed as the future of cancer treatment, proton therapy can target cancer cells more accurately and cause less damage to neighboring healthy cells than traditional radiation treatments.

It’s a form of radiation therapy that shoots invisible beams of positively charged particles into the body to attack infected cells. It’s proven effective at killing tumors close to vital organs and at treating cancer in children, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But proton therapy is not available in the Tampa Bay region, a shortfall that two of the region’s leading cancer treatment centers plan to fix.

The Moffitt Cancer Center announced this month that proton therapy will be offered at its 775-acre Global Innovation Center, which is planned to begin construction in Pasco County later this year.

That followed an announcement from the Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute last month that it’s planning to build a three-story, 44,000-square-foot proton therapy center at the intersection of West Kennedy Boulevard and South Fielding Avenue.

TGH’s center, which is slated to open in 2025, will be run in partnership with the Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute.

“We’re underserved in the Tampa Bay region with respect to cancer care,” said Richard Tuli, the institute’s deputy director. “Our leadership recognized this and are committed to developing a world-class cancer program to support our patients.”

Moffitt hopes to offer the treatment by 2026, a year after the new Pasco cancer center is scheduled to open. The nonprofit is using a $15 million donation from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation to set up a clinic through a partnership with proton therapy manufacturer IBA.

“This new technology allows us to extend our clinical and research expertise into proton therapy, as we seek to continually provide the best possible patient outcomes,” Patrick Hwu, president and CEO of Moffitt, said in a statement.

Traditional radiation therapy, which uses X-rays or gamma rays, travels through the body delivering energy through any cells it touches. With proton therapy, doctors can better control where the proton beam releases its highest concentration of energy.

The technology needed, however, is expensive.

The typical end-user price for a ProteusONE system manufactured by IBA with a 10-year maintenance contract ranges between $40 million to $50 million, according to the company’s website.

Only about 40 facilities across the United States offer the treatment, Tuli said.

That includes the Orlando Health Cancer Institute and the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, which opened in 2006 and recently celebrated treating its 100,000th patient, according to its website.

A treatment plan is devised based on the location of the tumor using information from CT scans. During treatment, minute beams of protons are targeted at the tumor from multiple angles, Tuli said.

“You can treat the tumor to maximum effectiveness but also minimize side effects as best we can,” he said.

Adverse effects typically include fatigue, hair loss, skin redness and soreness around the part of your body being treated, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Treatments are typically administered to outpatients with up to 40 doses daily over a four- to eight-week period, depending on the type of cancer. The radiation is typically delivered in less than three minutes.

That daily regimen can be expensive and prohibitive if patients have to travel for treatment, Tuli said.

“It can be a huge burden on patients and their families,” he said. “We’re happy to bring this technology here.”