LITTLETON, Mass.– Mevion Medical Systems is pleased to announce it has entered into a contract with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network to bring the MEVION S250i Proton Therapy System® to Wisconsin.
The system will be installed at the Froedtert & MCW Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital campus. Construction is scheduled to commence in early 2023, with the first patient treatment expected in 2024, which could make the Froedtert & MCW health network the first health system to offer proton therapy in Wisconsin.
Earlier this year, the Froedtert & MCW health network announced a partnership with Legion HealthCare Partners, which will assist with feasibility, design, and construction, as well as successful implementation and management of the complex proton therapy operations of the proton therapy system.
Through its Cancer Network, the Froedtert & MCW health network will offer adults treatment with the MEVION S250i system and will work with Children’s Wisconsin, one of the nation’s top pediatric facilities, to treat pediatric patients with proton therapy.
The Cancer Network offers six locations connected with the unparalleled resources of eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center at Froedtert Hospital campus. Renowned cancer specialists and researchers have disease-specific expertise and find innovative ways to make treatment personalized and effective. The Cancer Network also offers the largest cancer clinical trials treatment program in Wisconsin.
Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation therapy that better targets radiation doses to cancerous cells with less exposure to healthy tissues. Protons are directed precisely at the tumor, where the beam stops, rather than continuing on through the patient as conventional radiation does. This approach helps prevent complications and secondary cancers and can be used with patients who have previously had radiation therapy. The technology will feature HYPERSCAN® Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) technology, coupled with Adaptive Aperture®, the industry’s only proton multi-leaf collimator. This powerful duo further enhances proton therapy benefits with a more precise and conformal dose delivery to the tumor. The system will also include an integrated dual-energy diagnostic CT scanner for high-precision image guidance and adaptive proton delivery.
“Proton therapy supports our ongoing commitment to developing and offering world-class, innovative radiation therapy treatment approaches. We will offer it to patients from diverse communities throughout Wisconsin,” said Christopher Schultz, MD, FACR, MCW Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “Our mission continues to focus on expanding access to academic medicine with the goal of expanding the availability of precision treatment options. With Mevion’s advanced technology, we will be able to offer this caliber of care to more patients when they need it.”
“We are excited to partner with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network to bring proton therapy to Wisconsin,” said Tina Yu, PhD, chief executive officer and president of Mevion. “We are dedicated to making proton therapy accessible and proud to see our MEVION S250i has enabled more and more centers to offer this advanced cancer treatment to their patients close to home.”
