50th anniversary of world’s first cancer treatment with protons
Pressmeddelande
On November 23 it will have been 50 years since the first proton radiation treatment was administered at the then Gustaf Werner Institute for Nuclear Chemistry, now the The Svedberg Laboratory. It was also the first time ever that proton radiation was used to treat a tumor.
On November 23 it will have been 50 years since the first proton radiation treatment was administered at the then Gustaf Werner Institute for Nuclear Chemistry, now the The Svedberg Laboratory. It was also the first time ever that proton radiation was used to treat a tumor. This is being celebrated at Uppsala University in the form of a mini-symposium elucidating the first pioneering efforts, today’s treatments at The Svedberg Laboratory, and tomorrow’s at the projected Skandion Clinic. At the Gustaf Werner Institute for Nuclear Chemistry researchers managed to extract proton rays from the newly completed synchrocyclotron. Radiation biology, initiated by The Svedberg and John Naeslund, with Börje Larsson in charge of the radio-physics work, thereby came to be an important component of the research work there. After a number of experiments to determine the relative biological effect (RBE) of protons on biological material, the first treatment of a patient took place on November 23, 1957a woman in her 60s with cervical cancer was radiated with protons. Sture Falkmer, John Naeslund, and Stig Stenson from Akademiska University Hospital oversaw the medical aspects of the work. This was the world’s first cancer treatment with protonsa historic pioneering effort. Treatment of patients with protons from the Gustaf Werner cyclotron then continued until the early 1970s. After extensive reconstruction of the Gustaf Werner cyclotron in the 1970s and 1980s, proton radiation treatment was resumed in the late 1980s. At present treatment of patients with proton radiation represents a major component of work done at The Svedberg Laboratory, with 35 weeks per year under an agreement between Uppsala University and Akademiska University Hospital. Most of the treatments are for brain tumors and prostate cancer. The current activities at TSL are of the utmost importance for clinical continuity in that they maintain and develop the requisite expertise ahead of the commencement of treatment at the new national facility, the Skandion Clinic, connected with Akademiska Hospital. The national Skandion Clinic will be a facility for proton therapy, with an option to be expanded for treatment using other light ions. This facility, designed to treat more than 2,000 patients per year, is projected to be in operation by the end of 2011. The program for the mini-symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the world’s first cancer treatment with protons can be found at http://www.tsl.uu.se. For further information, please contact: Chief Physician Erik Blomquist, +46 (0)18-611 55 28, erik.blomquist@akademiska.se Professor Jörgen Carlsson, +46 (0)18-471 38 41, jorgen.carlsson@bms.uu.se Professor Curt Ekström, +46 (0)18-471 31 12, curt.ekstrom@tsl.uu.se