by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | March 12, 2018
From the March 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“This novel approach to compact proton therapy delivery has allowed us to expand access to our adult and pediatric patients suffering from complex cancers when traditional forms of radiation are not possible or unsafe,” says Parikh.
Researchers have estimated that of the 60 percent of cancer patients in the U.S. undergoing radiation therapy, 20 percent could likely benefit from proton therapy.
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Yet, lack of awareness, combined with the factors mentioned above, have stifled this figure from being reached with only less than 1 percent undergoing the treatment.
“In addition to the improved quality of life for the patients due to reduced side effects, as well as the reduction of secondary cancers down the road, many proton therapy experts believe that the cost of doing proton therapy may be less over the life of the patient than it is for radiation therapy in some cancers,” says Klein. “Those results are now just beginning to be reported.”
With these results has come greater intrigue within the health care community, prompting higher expectations in market value as well as investments and funding.
“With the increased number of centers in the U.S., that will open up access to those patients who previously have not been able to travel due to being in a single parent household or from an economic standpoint,” says Warwick, who adds that only 32 percent of Americans have regional access to such centers. “That’s one of the things that I get excited about.”
As these centers continue to grow in numbers, Hansen expects the needs of pediatric patients to be met right alongside those of adults.
“We think that as these proton therapy centers get placed around the world and it continues to grow for the adult population, the pediatric population kind of rides along that, meaning that as we put one in, many of these centers have a dedicated room to pediatrics,” he says.
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