M.D. Anderson Opens Proton Therapy Center

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has opened ts new 94,000-sf proton therapy center in Houston. The $125-million facility was constructed via a private-public partnership with investors and partners including Hitachi, Sanders Morris Harris Inc., and The Styles Co. The two-story center will be able to accommodate up to 3,500 patients annually and features one fixed-beam treatment room, three gantry treatment rooms, an experimental treatment area, a synchrotron, and beam transport system. Located in the Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer at the University of Texas Research Park, the facility is the first NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center to offer proton therapy, and the fourth of its kind in the nation.