BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Nuking deep-seated tumors with astonishing precision is now the standard at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) in Bloomington, Ind. In FDA-approved operation since 2004, the institute has upped its already high standards with the first-ever robotic gantry system to deliver targeted proton beams.

“Proton therapy is known for its high degree of effectiveness in cancer treatment,” explained Jim Buher, MPRI’s president and CEO, in an interview with MidwestBusiness.com. “Measuring 38 feet in diameter, the MPRI robot gantry enables the proton beam to be rotated 360 degrees and reach tumors that previously couldn’t be treated by conventional means.”

“Proton therapy has long been regarded as a preeminent form of delivery of irradiation for benign and malignant tumors,” said MPRI medical director Allan Thornton. “However, the traditional delivery methods have been laborious. They have only allowed a handful of patients per day to be treated with the 1-millimeter exactitude.”

Thornton, who joined MPRI from a proton therapy facility in Boston, said additional physicians from Clarian Health Partners and the Indiana University School of Medicine will be working with MPRI. The hope is to enable the center to “boost its patient treatment capacity both in quantity and complexity”.

The original treatment facility, which is still in operation, offered proton treatment from a fixed beam. The new robotic operation, which is based at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF), enables the beam to be rotated to any complex position. This allows oncologists and physicians to specifically reach tumors without major radiation damage to surrounding tissue.

Proton therapy produces fewer neutrons than conventional radiation therapy.

This reduces the possibility of later cancer appearing in irradiated tissue decades down the road. Buher added: “This is particularly important when treating pediatric cases. While successfully treating cancer in children, you also want to reduce the possibility that the treatment may contribute to the appearance of different cancers 20 years or so later.”

The new MPRI facility also produces an innovative new “wobbling beam that actually ‘paints’ the tumor,” according to Buher. The original treatment facility “blasts” the cancerous tumor with the full force of a proton beam while the new robotic gantry system paints layers of radiation directly on the tumor. Buher says this increases its effectiveness while reducing the number of created neutrons from the therapy.

Of the 285 patients treated since 2004, many are self-referred. Buher says they have discovered the benefits of proton therapy through the Internet or from presentations by MPRI physicians or friends. While the majority of referrals come from physicians, only four proton treatment centers are currently active in the U.S. and two are under construction. This limits access by patients.

“Southern Indiana is very lucky that this facility is here,” Buher said.

Given the $100 to $150 million traditional cost of building a facility, he says it’s unlikely Indiana would be home to the Midwest’s only proton treatment center were it not for some Hoosier ingenuity. A cyclotron facility has been active on the Indiana University campus for physics research since World War II. Still, the first cancer patient wasn’t treated at the Indiana University facility until 1993.

At that time, funding for the Indiana University facility was drying up. Instead of abandoning and dismantling the facility, Indiana University officials began looking for other uses. When the first patient was treated at the university, only two other proton facilities existed in the U.S. Since the cost of converting the Indiana facility was too high, university officials hit on a unique solution.

“A considerable depth of medical professionals, scientists and engineers already exist in Indiana,” Buher said. “Indiana University professionals decided to buy the necessary hardware to build a proton therapy center and design the software and other components themselves.”

The result – when the third new facility is completed later this fall – is that the total cost of the expanded facility will be between $55 and $60 million. This is much lower than the industry standard for construction.

In addition to lowering costs by designing and building the facility with Indiana-based resources, MPRI also secured the distinctive advantage of providing cutting-edge innovation through the addition of the robotic gantry operation.

The MPRI operation is a joint venture between Clarian and the Indiana University Research & Technology Corporation (IURTC). IURTC designed, tested and installed the FDA-approved rotating gantry proton therapy system (PTS) from 2003 to 2006.

In addition to developing and executing a state-of-the-art tumor treatment operation, MPRI will likely prove to be a boon to Hoosier taxpayers. Aside from the lower costs of development, the MPRI facility will eventually be self-funded through revenues generated from therapy.

“Saving lives and lowering costs: that’s a pretty good combination,” Buher concluded.

Michael Snyder is principal of The MEK Group, a marketing and business development consulting firm that provides communications-driven strategies to increase market share, enhance productivity and build distinctive brand awareness. Snyder can be reached at msnyder@themekgroup.com.
Click here for Snyder’s full biography.

Previous Columns in 2007:
Purdue’s Discovery Park a $350 Million ‘Driver For Change’ (4/5/2007)
Cellulosic Fuels, Ag Tech to Play Key Role in Indiana’s Future (3/30/2007)
With FCC Deadline Looming, Indiana Ponders Telemedicine (3/22/2007)
Realigned TechPoint Set to Energize Indiana IT Growth (3/15/2007)
Indiana General Assembly on Tech: Chaos or Collaboration? (3/9/2007)
Indiana DSI Initiative Sets New Vision of Innovative, Large-Scale Tech Transfer (3/1/2007)
No ‘Corn Dot-Com Bust’ For Indiana Ethanol, Says Ag Secretary Miller (2/15/2007)
Battelle Report: Indiana Biosciences Again Established as National Player (2/8/2007)
Indiana Defense Muscle Grows With West Gate Tech Park Expansion (2/1/2007)
Twenty in 10: President Bush Leaps Future of Hoosier Biofuels Forward (1/25/2007)
Outlook on Indiana-Based Biofuels, World Markets: ‘We’re Ready’ (1/18/2007)
ChaCha in Indiana Attracts Funding From Amazon, Compaq Founders (1/11/2007)
Purdue Ethanol Tech May Render Current Fuel Production ‘Obsolete’ (1/5/2007)
Click for 2006 column archive.
Click for 2005 column archive.

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