Proton beam therapy takes advantage of the physical properties of high energy protons as they slow down and stop within a patient. Contributing no further dose beyond their finite range, proton beams can spare more distal tissue and reduce the integral dose to the patient. But, for proton beam therapy, this strength is also its […]
Matthew Lowe
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) opened its proton beam therapy (PBT) service just over 12 months ago, treating the first patient on December 1, 2021 and joining the The Christie NHS Foundation Trust (CFT) in providing the national PBT service. Since that time we have treated more than 180 patients. We are […]
Dr Yen-Ching Chang, Laura Allington
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
It is an exciting time for the NHS Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) Service. Two NHS PBT centres, developed with a £250 million investment by NHS England, are now up and running: the Christie Hospital treated its first patient in 2018 and University College London Hospital (UCLH) at the end of last year. Self-catering accommodation near […]
Dr Romelie Rieu, Prof Chris Nutting
The Royal Marsden Hospital
The first NHS patient was treated in the high energy proton beam centre at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester in December 2018, following more than a decade of careful planning by the NHS. The second NHS centre is planned to open at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) during 2021. Each […]
Dr Simona Gaito, Tom Edwards, Vicky Hughes, Imran Patel, Ed Smith, Neil Burnet
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, University of Manchester
The NHS had the world’s first hospital-based proton beam centre in 1989 at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. It is a low energy facility and is used for treating cancer of the eye. Now the government has invested in two high energy facilities, in Manchester and London, and there are a small number of private facilities […]
Alison Warry, Andy Poynter
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Contrary to popular opinion, the concept of treating cancer using high energy beams of protons is not new. First conceived in 1946, following a period in which patients were treated only in laboratory facilities, the first hospital-based facility opened in 1990 at Loma Linda University Medical Center (United States). Currently there are 67 centres in […]
Paul J Doolan, Richard A Amos
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust