Leading up to the third annual conference on Planning, Building and Operating Successful Proton Therapy Centers, being held February 20-22, 2013 in San Diego, Calif., DOTmed News spoke with Advanced Particle Therapy CEO Jeff Bordok about what to expect at this year’s show, including a tour of their 102,000-square-foot Scripps Proton Therapy Center — the first in San Diego County and one of the only 10 nationwide to offer proton therapy.

DMBN: How are you involved in the field of proton therapy?
Bordok: Advanced Particle Therapy has been involved with the development and ownership of proton treatment centers for the past eight years. APT provides a fully integrated solution for proton therapy with operations by our clinical partners. Our clinical partners are major health care systems and medical academic institutions. Currently the institutions include Scripps Health and Scripps Clinic Medical Group, the University of Maryland, Emory Healthcare/ Emory University and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

DMBN: The conference includes a tour of the Scripps Proton Therapy Center. Give us a little background on this facility and why you think conference attendees will benefit from seeing the new center?
Bordok: The Scripps Proton Therapy Center is a freestanding center owned and developed by California Proton Treatment Center, LLC a special purpose entity formed for the project by Advanced Particle Therapy. The 100,000 sq. foot center has five treatment rooms (three rotational gantries and two fixed beam rooms). The Center features state-of-the-art technology including the Varian ProBeam proton therapy system and diagnostic equipment including PET-CT, CT and MRI.

DMBN: What are some of the things that distinguish Scripps Proton Therapy Center from other proton centers around the country?
Bordok: The Scripps Proton Therapy Center will be the first center in the United States to offer pencil beam scanning, Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT) and Cone Beam CT in all five treatment rooms. Also the Center has a design that features patient positioning outside of the treatment room. This will dramatically reduce treatment times, enhance the patients’ treatment experience and offer treatment to more patients.

DMBN: This is the third annual Planning, Building and Operating Successful Proton Therapy Centers conference. How will this conference be different from years past?
Bordok: This will be the first conference wherein attendees can see the Varian ProBeam system in a stateside facility.

DMBN: What are some of the highlights of this year’s show in your opinion?
Bordok: I think that attendees will enjoy seeing the design and technology in the Scripps Proton Therapy Center. The discussions about how other institutions can achieve their proton therapy goals will also be of interest.

DMBN: What are some of the trends you’re seeing in the field and some of the future challenges for proton therapy?
Bordok: As more proton centers open and especially with those operated by leading cancer care centers and Comprehensive Cancer Center designated operators, sharing clinical data and patient treatment successes become very important. APT’s clinical partners meet at least twice a year to plan for this data sharing to expand on the wonderful treatment benefits proton therapy offers. Proton therapy has been around clinically for more than 20 years but with a limited number of centers. Therefore, there has only been limited beam time for patient treatment. This has restricted the number of patients that can take advantage of this treatment. As more centers come online, this will equate to more beam time and more patients will be treated. By keeping most patients monitored by managed treatment protocols, I feel we will also see improved uses of protons for treating cancer. Pencil beam scanning and IMPT are the most immediate improvements.