• SKIP TO CONTENT
  • SKIP NAVIGATION
  • Patient Resources
    • COVID-19 Patient Resource Center
    • Clinical Trials
    • Search Clinical Trials
    • Patient Notification System
    • What is Clinical Research?
    • Volunteering for a Clinical Trial
    • Understanding Informed Consent
    • Useful Resources
    • FDA Approved Drugs
  • Professional Resources
    • Research Center Profiles
    • Clinical Trial Listings
    • Market Research
    • FDA Approved Drugs
    • Training Guides
    • Books
    • eLearning
    • Events
    • Newsletters
    • White Papers
    • SOPs
    • eCFR and Guidances
  • White Papers
  • Trial Listings
  • Advertise
  • COVID-19
  • iConnect
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » UT Southwestern to establish Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy

UT Southwestern to establish Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy

February 12, 2015
CenterWatch Staff

UT Southwestern Medical Center is leading a Texas consortium of researchers to establish the country's first National Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy that could provide clinical care and research using heavy particles for innovative new cancer treatments.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the NIH awarded UT Southwestern a $1 million planning grant to develop research proposals for the center.

"UT Southwestern is committed to being a national leader in developing new technologies that will improve patient outcomes through the nexus of research and clinical care," said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern Medical Center, who holds the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. distinguished presidential chair in academic administration and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal distinguished chair in medical science.

Dr. Hak Choy, chair and professor of radiation oncology at UT Southwestern, is Principal Investigator for the Texas award. "Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy represents the next quantum leap forward in cancer care. It is not available in the U.S., and our location would be the first of its kind in the country," said Choy.

"The efficacy of Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy for certain cancers already has been established by foreign institutions, which have conducted clinical trials and found profound increases in overall disease-free survival," said Choy. “However, this therapy needs a more thorough and rigorous scientific approach to uncover its full potential. Additional clinical trials, improvements in accelerator technology, and improvements in understanding the underlying biology are all still critically needed.”

In the U.S., more than 50% of cancer patients are currently treated using energetic photons, electrons or protons.

"Heavy Ion Radiation, on the other hand, delivers therapy that is both more potent and more precise than conventional as well as proton therapy," Choy said. "It offers treatment to normally radioresistant tumors as well as improved dose conformation with even better sparing of normal tissue structures close to the target. This is important when treating areas that are close to sensitive structures such as the spine and brain, where we want to minimize exposure as much as possible while achieving maximal impact to the tumor."

The Texas-based consortium consists of researchers from UT Southwestern, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University, Baylor College of Medicine, the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the UT Medical Branch at Galveston and NASA, in addition to national and international collaborators. The Texas consortium project, one of two provided the preliminary planning grants, earned a nearly perfect score from the NCI peer-review panel.

The U.S. pioneered Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1954, but lack of funding shuttered the program in 1993, allowing other countries, fueled by extensive government support, to take the lead. Eight fully operational Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy Centers now exist worldwide in Japan, Germany, Italy and China. Ten additional centers are in development.

A national center for the U.S. is important to re-establish U.S. prominence in the field and to provide the foundation of research needed to make this type of therapy available to U.S. cancer patients, said Choy.

Building costs for the National Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy, targeted for completion in 2021, are estimated at $200 million to $250 million, and would need a combination of federal, state and private funding for construction and ongoing research. Potential economic impact estimates for Texas are more than $600 million, with 130 new high-level jobs created and 2,000 annual out-of-town visitors.

Upcoming Events

  • 16Feb

    Fundamentals of FDA Inspection Management: Reduce Anxiety, Increase Inspection Success

  • 21May

    WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference – 2023 East

Featured Products

  • Spreadsheet Validation: Tools and Techniques to Make Data in Excel Compliant

    Spreadsheet Validation: Tools and Techniques to Make Data in Excel Compliant

  • Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection

    Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection: Resources for Investigators, Sponsors, CROs and IRBs

Featured Stories

  • Revamp-360x240.png

    Califf Calls for Major Evidence Generation Revamp, Experts’ Opinions Differ

  • AskTheExpertsGreen-360x240.png

    Ask the Experts: Managing Investigational Products

  • SurveywBlueBackground-360x240.png

    Survey Outlines Site Challenges, Successes on Diversity

  • PatientCentricity-360x240.png

    Site Spotlight: DM Clinical Shows Patient Centricity Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

Standard Operating Procedures for Risk-Based Monitoring of Clinical Trials

The information you need to adapt your monitoring plan to changing times.

Learn More Here
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Data

Footer Logo

300 N. Washington St., Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA

Phone 617.948.5100 – Toll free 866.219.3440

Copyright © 2023. All Rights Reserved. Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing