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The University of California San Diego and the Department of Radiation Oncology are currently in the process of developing a Proton/Particle Research and Treatment Center on the La Jolla Campus adjacent to the Moores Cancer Center. 

Available at only a handful of centers in the United States and in the world, protons and other particles allow for aggressive but highly targeted treatment of tumors, delivering high doses of radiation to malignant cells while improving the sparing of nearby healthy tissues. Such treatment not only reduces the risk of side effects but allows the ability to safely deliver higher more effective radiation doses, improving patient outcome. 

The UCSD Proton/Particle Center will be the first such center in San Diego and only the second center west of Houston.  As envisioned the center would treat more than 1500 patients per year, making it one of the largest proton treatment centers in the country.  However, the plans to include other particles would make it quite unique. 

The center will be both a treatment and research facility, focusing not only on state-of-the-art treatment but also the development of novel approaches improving the efficacy of therapy.  The center will be a major resource for scientists and engineers within UCSD and for the general biotech community at large. 

Proton therapy is especially useful in treating cancers of the eye and brain, head and neck, lung and other sites.  Prostate cancer, in particular, is ideally suited for proton therapy and is now commonly treated at many centers with excellent clinical results.

A unique aspect of the UCSD Proton/Particle Treatment and Research Center will be a focus on pediatrics.  Many childhood cancers benefit from proton therapy, a therapy which offers the ability to practically eliminate dose to adjacent healthy tissues in children reducing adverse effects on their growth and development.  The establishment of a proton center at UCSD is particularly timely given the recent announcement of an alliance between UCSD, Rady Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

It is hoped that ground-breaking will occur in late 2008 with the first patient treated in 2011.