Next year, Baptist Health Cancer Care’s Lynn Cancer Institute in Boca Raton will open a $64-million proton therapy center, part of a near doubling of that type of tumor treatment center in Florida.
In addition to the Lynn center at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, four other new centers have been announced in Florida. The state already hosts six. The proliferation signals three developments: Researchers have found more types of cancer that can be treated with proton therapy. The treatment is becoming more regionally available. Also, the cost of building centers has declined as the tech has become more compact and new center layouts tend to be single-room affairs rather than larger facilities.
When the University of Florida opened its center in Jacksonville in 2006, it was the first in Florida, first in the Southeast U.S. and only the fifth nationally. Now there are 46 across the country.
The Boca project comes via donations from longtime Boca Raton Regional philanthropist Barbara C. Gutin and from the estate of Richard Blackman.
Florida Proton Therapy Centers
EXISTING
- UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, Jacksonville
- Ackerman Cancer Center, Jacksonville
- Orlando Health Cancer Institute, Orlando
- Dwoskin Proton Therapy Center (University of Miami Health System), Miami
- Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida, Miami
- South Florida Proton Therapy Institute, Delray Beach
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
- Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville
- Baptist Health Lynn Cancer Institute, Boca Raton
- Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa
- St. Joseph’s Hospital (BayCare), Tampa
- Advocate Radiation Oncology, Estero
Source: National Association for Proton Therapy