“About 70 percent of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy, and as the technology improves, we want to ensure that our patients have access to the very best care and the latest treatments,” said Jeff Michalski, MD, vice chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Carlos A. Both systems allow for extremely precise adjustments to the radiation beam, so physicians can precisely target tumors while minimizing damage to surrounding tissue. The latter technology will continue to work well for most patients who are candidates for proton therapy, Bradley said. Alternatively, Siteman’s first proton therapy system, available since 2013, precisely targets the tumor using magnets that scatter the proton beam across the tumor. The beam then “paints” the radiation dose on the tumor. Pencil-beam scanning delivers proton therapy in a single, narrow proton beam aimed directly at the tumor and adjusted for intensity. We’re pleased to be the first cancer center in the region to offer it.” But pencil-beam scanning technology provides the highest degree of precision. “Either proton therapy delivery method is highly accurate and is aimed at sparing healthy tissue that surrounds tumors. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center, where patients of Siteman and Siteman Kids at St. Lee Kling Professor of Radiation Oncology at the School of Medicine and director of the S. “This especially precise technology is to cancer therapy what a very fine paintbrush is to painting,” said Jeffrey D. The second proton therapy system will complement the first as part of an array of radiation therapy options. Known as pencil-beam scanning, the technology delivers extremely precise treatments of proton therapy, a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancers of the head, chest, spine and other particularly sensitive areas, as well as pediatric cancers.Ĭonstruction will begin in early 2019 next to the region’s only proton therapy system, at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. The first system, pictured here, opened in 2013.Ĭancer patients in Missouri, Southern Illinois and beyond will have access to a new generation of proton therapy in early 2020. Incorporating the latest technology, known as pencil-beam scanning, the system will deliver extremely precise treatments of proton therapy, a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancers in particularly sensitive areas, as well as in children. In 2020, Siteman Cancer Center will open its second proton therapy unit on the Washington University Medical Campus. Pencil-beam scanning technology expected to be available in early 2020 News Release Siteman Cancer Center to offer newest form of proton therapy