The Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute (HUPTI), the 8th proton facility in the U.S. and the largest of its kind in the world, has treated its 400th patient. The center is expected to reach full operation later this year, treating approximately 1,500 patients annually.
Stan Jackson, an attorney of Aiken, South Carolina, was treated on September 21st: “I’m ecstatic…”, he says. “I wasn’t the first and I certainly won’t be the last. I hope I’m just the start of a great migration of patients at HUPTI, for a caring treatment of cancer”.
Jackson was diagnosed in March 2012 with prostate cancer and initially began IMRT treatments in June. He started to develop severe side effects and quickly decided to opt for a different treatment. Proton therapy helped him to proceed with his treatments with a marked reduction in his complications, says Christopher Sinesi, M.D., HUPTI medical director.
The actual treatment of protons lasts less than two minutes. Patients are treated five days a week, from one to nine weeks. Jackson began proton therapy treatment last month and completed three weeks of treatment. He is convinced he made the best decision: “I wouldn’t be spending the time, effort and money for lodging, etc., if I didn’t think that proton therapy was the best therapeutic remedy for prostate cancer without complications.”
HUPTI began treating patients in August of 2010, and is currently treating prostate, breast, brain, lung, head and neck, pediatric and other cancers. “The staff is not only very experienced, they’re also very happy, caring, supportive, and concerned people,” said Jackson. “They couldn’t be better.”
Sources :
http://www.thehealthjournals.com/2012/10/hu-proton-therapy-institute-treats-400th-patient/
http://www.hamptonproton.org/news/
