In an announcement this week, the University of Maryland's Proton Center has established the world's first combined Hyperthermia/Proton Beam therapy center. The therapy suite features the BSD-2000 Deep Regional Hyperthermia system as a complement to the center's 122,000 sq. ft., five-bay, $270M, Varian ProBeam Proton system.
See Announcement: High-Precision Proton Therapy More Effective in Treating Certain Cancers When Combined with Thermal Therapy
Proton therapy is a precise form of radiation for the treatment of solid, localized tumors. Unlike X-ray (photon) technology, protons deliver a maximum radiation dose that stops at the tumor site. This enables our physicians to target the cancer cells with millimeter precision while sparing normal, healthy surrounding tissue in the rest of your body.
Hyperthermia, as an adjunct therapy, is expected to provide the same functionality as it would for traditional radiotherapy by increasing tumor oxygenation, boosting effective dose by 150%, preventing DNA repair to damaged cancer cells and by awakening the bodies immune system to the identify and destroy cancer. The big difference is the belief that Hyperthermia + Proton = Carbon Ion as theorized in a paper Could hyperthermia with proton therapy mimic carbon ion therapy? by Dr. Niloy Datta.
This is an exciting advancement for hyperthermia to the forefront of cancer treatment.
More: Maryland Proton Treatment Center combines hyperthermia with proton therapy