UAB welcomes new cancer-killing cyclotron

A new cancer-killing machine has arrived at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Emma, a 90-ton cyclotron assembled in Germany, made its way last week to UAB’s Proton Therapy Center, where it will help target cancer cells during radiation treatments by accelerating protons.

“All machines now accelerate electrons,” said Dr. Rex Cardan, lead proton physicist for UAB Medicine.

That technology is used in X-rays, but Cardan said “tricks” have to be done to keep the X-ray focused on the tumors without hurting nearby tissue. With the cyclotron, protons will be accelerated and will also be able to be slowed down and stopped closer to the tumor, making radiation treatments more exact and less harmful to surrounding tissues and organs, which can be vital, depending on the location of cancer cells, Cardan said.

“It’s a big step for Alabama,” Cardan said. “... Proton therapy is still in the beginning stages. … It looks like we are getting into the game at just the right time.”

Cardan said UAB had been “shopping” for about 10 years through different vendors before creating a partnership with Proton International, which supplied the cyclotron while UAB supplies the staff at the building, which is being leased to Proton International. The machine was built by Varian Medical Systems, and is named Emma after the wife of Varian’s lead physicist on the project, Cardan said.

The machine has to go through the commissioning project, Cardan said, but should be ready for use by February 2020. While it isn’t a viable option for every patient, it will be especially helpful for pediatric and prostate cancer, Cardan said.

In a statement issued by UAB, Proton International’s CEO, Chris Chandler, said experts “conservatively estimate” about 250,000 cancer patients in the U.S. alone could benefit from proton therapy.