Proton cancer therapy site praised

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ first and only proton therapy center has treated almost 100 cancer patients since it opened in September, participants in a panel discussion on the new center said Tuesday.

“Up to 20% of cancer victims potentially qualify for proton therapy, and that’s a pretty significant number that was having to travel out of state or maybe not even receiving that therapy previously,” said Doug Weeks, executive vice president for strategy and innovation at Baptist Health, during the panel hosted by the Rotary Club of Little Rock at the Clinton Presidential Center.

The Proton Center of Arkansas, a collaborative effort between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Baptist Health, Arkansas Children’s and Proton International, is housed in UAMS’ $65 million Radiation Oncology Center, which was funded through a bond issue approved by the University of Arkansas System board of trustees and opened last summer.

The Proton Center, on the second floor of the Radiation Oncology Center, is one of 43 proton therapy centers in the country, Dr. Sanjay Maraboyina, a radiation oncologist and associate professor at UAMS, said during the panel.

Proton therapy is a form of radiation treatment that uses proton particles to target solid tumors, reducing the amount of healthy tissue exposed to radiation and minimizing side effects, Maraboyina said.

“What’s important to know is that radiation causes damage to cancer cells, but it also can cause damage to healthy normal tissue,” Maraboyina said.

“So the name of the game is, ‘How can I kill the cancer while protecting normal healthy tissues and reducing the toxicity of treatment?’”

Children in particular are particularly susceptible to side effects of cancer treatments, Ashlie Hilbun, chief strategy officer and senior vice president at Arkansas Children’s, said.

“When you’re treating a child, you’re treating a human whose future life has enormous potential,” Hilbun said.

She said the center has meant that 17 families have not had to relocate to receive cancer treatment for their child.

“When we talk a lot across our health system, children are enormously resilient but they do not take care of themselves,” Hilbun said. “So we don’t treat children, we treat families, and that’s a really important piece of this, to actually keep a family as close to home as possible.”