Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

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(Baton Rouge) – Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and the Louisiana State University System (LSU) today announced they are engaged in joint planning to develop and implement a proton therapy program in Baton Rouge, adding the latest in radiation therapy technology to serve Louisiana cancer patients.  The treatment and research program is expected to open by 2012 on the campus of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Proton therapy is a form of radiation therapy that holds tremendous potential in the treatment of certain types of cancer because it allows physicians to deliver higher doses while sparing surrounding healthy tissues and organs.  Currently, there are five proton therapy facilities in the United States, all affiliated with universities.

“Improving outcomes for cancer patients while advancing medical research and cancer treatment leverages the academic power of the university and the private resources of Mary Bird Perkins,” said Dr. John Lombardi, president of the LSU System. 

Historically, proton therapy has benefited only a small segment of cancer patients, mostly in treating localized, isolated, solid tumors, such as brain, spine, head and neck as well as eye tumors, before they spread to the rest of the body. 

Scientists and physicians with the nationally-recognized Mary Bird Perkins-LSU Medical Physics Program believe future advances in proton therapy technology will benefit a wider array of cancer patients. The accredited graduate program, a joint venture of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and the LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, is one of only 14 such programs in the nation. The partnership takes advantage of Mary Bird Perkins’ clinical team and facilities, treatment planning and dosimetry laboratories, and commitment to patients as well as LSU’s expertise in imaging and medical physics within LSU’s College of Basic Sciences. This combination of resources improves patient care, provides a rich arena for medical research and provides much needed manpower in this highly-specialized field for Louisiana and the nation.  

One of the world’s foremost scholars in charged particle radiation therapy, Dr. Kenneth Hogstrom, chief of physics at Mary Bird Perkins and Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics at LSU, leads the partnership. Hogstrom is the former department chair of radiation physics and director of the graduate medical physics program at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Mary Bird Perkins and LSU have outlined four steps in their proton implementation plan, which is being guided by a proton therapy implementation team chaired by Hogstrom.  Steps include finalizing a technology and industry partner; site integration; project planning, development and construction; and operations.

Mary Bird Perkins has other existing links with LSU as well. Mary Bird Perkins has provided access to leading-edge treatment in Southeast Louisiana to cancer patients cared for through the LSU Health System. It is also the leading clinical site affiliate for the enrollment of adult patients in the LSU Health Sciences Center at New Orleans clinical research program – the Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program (MB-CCOP) funded by the National Cancer Institute. 

“Mary Bird Perkins, because of its partnerships with physicians, Our Lady of the Lake, and the LSU System, is able to operate academic-level radiation therapy treatment programs across Southeast Louisiana, which for over 35 years have been available to all patients regardless of their ability to pay,” said Todd Stevens, president and CEO, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “We believe this team’s combined resources of clinical, physics and basic science, and research expertise are ready to guide the implementation of the next, more advanced generation of proton therapy in our region for the benefit of current and future cancer patients in Louisiana.”

The five operating proton therapy programs are located in California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas. Six more programs are under development in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. 
 

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been fighting cancer for over 35 years with locations in Baton Rouge, Covington, Gonzales, Hammond and Houma. It has comprehensive cancer programs with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge and St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. These programs are accredited by the American College of Surgeons. For more information visit www.marybird.org. 
 

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