Proton therapy center to open Wed. in Okla. City

July 06, 2009 10:10 am

— OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A more precise technique of radiation therapy to battle cancer will become available to Oklahomans this week when the ProCure Proton Therapy Center opens here.

ProCure, based in Indiana, says up to 1,500 patients could be treated at the $120 million center.

"We are serious about cancer care, and this is one more weapon in the toolbox to fight cancer," said ProCure President Ed Bertels.

Company officials say that, though the Oklahoma City clinic is their firm's first, it is the sixth such center in the United States. A similar center is planned as part of the OU Cancer Institute now under construction near downtown.

According to ProCure, proton therapy uses a 220-ton machine called a cyclotron to split atoms and create a beam of energy that destroys cancer cells more precisely than traditional radiation therapy.