First proton therapy center in Middle TN to open in Franklin

Joe Matteo, president of ProNova Solutions, explains how proton therapy works. 

Middle Tennessee residents will soon have a new option for an innovative cancer treatment. 

Knoxville-headquartered Provision Healthcare is opening its second proton therapy center in the state, across from the Williamson County Medical Center in Franklin. 

The center will feature the ProNova system, the company's newest iteration of proton beam therapy that treats several types of cancers. 

Like conventional radiation therapy, proton therapy treats cancerous tumors by directing radiation to the site to destroy the cancer cells.

But while traditional radiation also affects healthy cells surrounding the tumor, proton beams can be more finely controlled so that they don't harm surrounding healthy tissue or nearby organs, which means patients can receive higher doses of radiation to fight their cancer with less risk of complications.

"The difference to the patient is, we deliver the same dose to the tumor, but deliver a dramatically lower dose to healthy tissue, Joe Matteo, president of ProNova Solutions.

"That leads to better outcomes, and lower side effects and lower risks of secondary cancers," he said.

Protons travel at about half the speed of light.

There are just 26 proton therapy centers in the U.S., Matteo said. This will be the third center in Tennessee, in addition to Provision's Knoxville center and one at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis that exclusively treats children.

The $100-million-dollar facility, at 4588 Carothers Parkway in Franklin, is a stone's throw from Williamson Medical Center.

It's expected to create about 75 new jobs by the time it opens this summer, Matteo said.

ProNova system

The 45,000-square-foot facility offers three treatment rooms – two of which feature the company's ProNova SC360 system, which is manufactured in Blount County.

"This is really the core of proton technology," Matteo said. In a machine called a gantry, the protons are steered with super conductive magnets.

"It’s taking that proton beam and instead of coming straight out to the patient, we steer it it with magnets like that, and now it can rotate around the patient, and treat them from any angle," Matteo said.

The magnets ProNova uses are about one-tenth the size of traditional super-conductive magnets, making the process more efficient.

Unlike conventional radiation therapy, patients are never in a tunnel, he said. 

"All of our competitor systems require the patient to be in a tunnel," he said. "We have the only compact, 360-degree solution."

Where do the protons come from? That would be the facility's 220-ton cyclotron, a massive machine that's manufactured in Japan and had to be assembled on site.

Proton therapy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients in 1988. 

The impact

Provision has treated more than 70 types of cancer with proton therapy at its center in Knoxville. 

But not all insurance companies will reimburse for the treatments.

"If you're under 18 or over 65, you pretty much can get protons for whatever cancer. But if you're in the middle, it really depends on your insurer," Matteo said.

But now, he said, the cost of receiving proton therapy is the same as conventional photon radiation.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/franklin/2018/03/01/first-proton-therapy-center-middle-tn-open-franklin/385430002/

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