MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida has welcomed the future of cancer care with the arrival today of its 220-ton proton therapy cyclotron.

As the cornerstone of the only proton therapy center in South Florida, the cyclotron’s arrival ensures that patients in the region and across Latin America and the Caribbean no longer will need to travel far from home to access the treatment. The technology will offer pencil beam scanning – the most precise form of proton radiation treatment. Proton therapy destroys cancer cells with highly-targeted doses of radiation while avoiding healthy tissue and minimizing side effects, making it particularly effective in treating childhood cancers and adult cancers of the brain, liver and lung, as well as certain left-sided breast cancers and prostate cancers. Proton therapy treatment will be available at Miami Cancer Institute beginning in 2017.

“The arrival of the cyclotron signifies the beginning of the most sophisticated cancer treatment technology in the history of our organization,” said Brian E. Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida. “This historic milestone is not just one for Baptist Health to celebrate, but one for our entire community as we come together in the fight against cancer.”
“This is the most cutting-edge proton therapy technology available,” said Minesh Mehta, M.D., deputy director of the Miami Cancer Institute and chief of radiation oncology. “It uses a pencil-beam approach, allowing us to target more complicated tumors and, for most situations, further decreases radiation exposure to normal tissues in comparison to older proton techniques. That means that there is significantly less damage to healthy tissue, a decrease in side effects and less chance of a recurrence of cancer due to radiation exposure.”

The cyclotron began its 4,700-mile transatlantic journey from Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, approximately two weeks ago. After arriving at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the cyclotron was loaded onto a flatbed truck operated by two drivers who made the overnight drive to Miami. By daylight, a 140-ton gantry crane began to lift the cyclotron into its permanent home at Miami Cancer Institute. The new $430 million, state-of-the-art facility situated on the campus of Baptist Hospital of Miami is scheduled to open in 2016.

“The moment the proton therapy unit arrives and becomes operational, the way we care for patients in South Florida will change,” said Michael J. Zinner, M.D., founding CEO & executive medical director of Miami Cancer Institute. “Miami Cancer Institute will be among the very few facilities worldwide to provide every available radiation therapy technology all in one location. Combined with our commitment to caring for patients from their diagnosis, through their complex treatment and onto survivorship, we ensure that we’re right alongside them and their families during this journey.”

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