CDH Proton Center expands treatment capacity

The CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, in suburban Chicago, is now able to treat a wider variety of cancer tumors with the opening of a treatment room with a gantry, a nearly 100-ton rotating steel wheel that allows the proton beam to be directed at the tumor from any angle. Opening the gantry expands the number and types of patients the Center can treat with proton therapy, an alternative to standard X-ray radiation for cancer that spares healthy tissue and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects.

“With an estimated 11,000 Illinois residents this year alone who stand to benefit from proton therapy, the need for this advanced treatment is great.”

"The opening of this, our third treatment room is great news for patients who could benefit from proton therapy," said William Hartsell, M.D., medical director of the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center. "The gantry in particular allows us to treat more clinically challenging tumors because the proton beam can be very precisely rotated 360 degrees around the patient."

The Center, which opened in October 2010, has four treatment rooms and will be able to treat up to 1,500 patients per year when all four are open. The Center plans to start operating a second shift to accommodate more patients in the rooms already open before commissioning the fourth and final room.

"The opening of the gantry room brings us one step closer to helping as many patients with cancer as possible in Illinois and the surrounding region," said James R. Williams, president of the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center. "With an estimated 11,000 Illinois residents this year alone who stand to benefit from proton therapy, the need for this advanced treatment is great."