Proton Therapy

Coming Fall 2013: A Precise, Aggressive Approach to Radiation Therapy for Cancer

The Scripps Proton Therapy Center is being built built through a collaboration among Scripps Health, Scripps Clinic Medical Group and Advanced Particle Therapy. The 102,000-square-foot center will have the capacity to treat approximately 2,400 patients annually.

Proton therapy targets cancer, spares healthy tissue

Scripps Proton Therapy Center in San Diego will offer advanced radiation therapy for the treatment of both cancerous tumors and certain non-cancerous conditions.

One of only a handful of treatment centers of its kind in the nation, the facility features cancer-fighting technology that draws on decades of research and development in radiation therapy.

Unlike traditional x-rays, which deliver a dose of radiation in, around and through a wide area of the body, proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) uses a highly focused “pencil beam” of subatomic particles which are programmed to conform to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor and precisely target it.

This technology delivers the majority of the prescribed dose of radiation directly to a tumor—minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues.