proton therapy

Community leaders and project partners signed concrete blocks that will be used to construct Southwest Florida Proton in Estero.

South Lee proton therapy cancer center celebrates Lee Health subsidiary partnership

Sheldon Zoldan/Special to WGCU

Dr. Arie Dosoretz, one of the founders of Advocate Radiation Oncology, announced a partnership this week between Southwest Florida Proton and Lee Healthcare Holdings.

Proton therapy irradiates cancer cells with a beam of protons inside the tumor.

Health News Florida

Tampa General and Moffitt Cancer Center are bringing proton therapy to the region

Stephanie Colombini

The cancer treatment attacks tumors more accurately than traditional radiation. Tampa Bay residents haven't been able to access it in the region yet.

It takes three stories to house the equipment for proton therapy. The equipment costs anywhere from $20 million to $28 million.

Health News Florida

A proton therapy center will provide advanced cancer treatment in Lee County

Sheldon Zoldan/Special to WGCU

The nearest other proton therapy centers for Southwest Florida residents are two in Miami, one in Delray Beach and one in Orlando. Two centers are planned for in the Tampa area.

A construction worker paints walls at the Maryland Proton Treatment Center in Baltimore. Each of the center's five rooms will contain a massive piece of equipment that will rotate around a cancer patient to deliver a special kind of radiation.

NPR Health

Proton Beam Therapy Sparks Hospital Arms Race

Jenny Gold

Local officials in Washington D.C., are on the verge of approving two high-tech radiation facilities for treating cancer at a total cost of $153 million. The treatment these hospitals would offer costs twice as much as standard radiation, but hasn't been shown to work any better for most cancers.