The Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center opened Oct. 1, 2020, giving adult and pediatric patients access to a highly targeted cancer treatment that spares nearby healthy tissues and organs and reduces potential side effects, as well as including the risk of recurrence.

In addition, as an academic proton therapy center, research is performed in a dedicated gantry.

DEVILLE

“I am excited to be part of an academic center at the forefront of solving issues and questions about proton therapy,” says Curtiland Deville, M.D., medical director of the Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center. “What are the best indications for proton? Where can we increase benefit, and where can we reduce toxicity? Where are we not getting such benefit and can let go? This is an area that is lacking, and our center will be solving these unknowns and leading future progress.”

Proton therapy is an effective way of killing cancer while minimizing harm to healthy, surrounding tissue. The proton beam releases its energy entering the tumor, and stops at the tumor. There is no exit dose, so the risk of harm to healthy surrounding tissue is reduced.

LADRA

Unlike traditional radiation, which uses X-rays to destroy cancer cells, proton therapy uses subatomic particles with about 2,000 times more mass, explains Matthew Ladra, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences and director of pediatric radiation oncology for the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital.

The new 80,000-square-foot Proton Therapy Center — one of the largest and most advanced in the world — houses state-of-the-art proton therapy equipment, including four treatment gantries equipped with the most advanced technologies. The center’s experts are using this advanced technology, supported by the latest research, to deliver individualized care.

“These advanced imaging facilities give our expert, disease-focused physicians exceptional ability to use very precise anatomy to plan proton therapy,” says Akila Viswanathan, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., director of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences.

A large mechanical arm called a gantry can move the beam 360 degrees around the patient, treating the tumor from several angles, layer by layer, killing cancer cells with the most advanced pencil beam delivery. Our highly trained radiation oncologists and physicists direct the proton beam to the tumor with pinpoint accuracy, and treatment is conformed to the size and shape of the tumor.

It is the only proton center with CT imaging integrated with treatment to ensure accurate and precise treatment planning and treatment delivery. Respiratory gaiting technology tracks the proton beam to movement of the tumor, and stops the beam if the tumor moves. Our experts helped invent and develop both technologies.

The proton therapy center is one of the few in the world — and the only one in the Washington, D.C., region — with a dedicated pediatric team that specializes in caring for young oncology patients.

Visvanathan and Marikki Laiho, M.D., Ph.D., director of molecular radiation science, are excited about what Kimmel Cancer Center experts can offer to advance the understanding and use of proton therapy.

Viswanathan, Chief of Physics Xun Jia, Ph.D., and Marikki Laiho, M.D., Ph.D., director of molecular radiation science, are excited about what Kimmel Cancer Center experts can offer to advance the understanding and use of proton therapy. Jia brings his unique expertise in deep-learning based image processing and radiotherapy treatment planning to the proton research and leadership to physics teams testing “FLASH” (high dose in a short time) proton and photon therapy in preclinical tests. Research is underway to more comprehensively understand the biologic effect of proton therapy.

“Although it has been around for a long time, it is very much in its infancy in terms of exploration and potential,” says Viswanathan. “There are many aspects we are still learning about and many research opportunities,” adds Laiho. “That’s something unique we bring to the table.”