The Pediatric Proton Foundation was proud to be recently asked to provide a letter of support for St. Jude Children's Cancer Hospital as it makes a bid to build its own proton center. As many followers will know, St. Jude's announced an alliance with Univeristy of Florida Proton Center in the fall of 2009 to begin sending children suffering from brain tumors for proton treatment to Florida.
Before beginning construction, St. Jude Children's is required to obtain a certificate of need from the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency. This is where the Pediatric Proton Foundation came in to help by providing a letter of support. The hearing for this project is scheduled to occur in late August. If the project is approved, construction is expected to begin in spring 2012 and will hopefully begin treating pediatric patients by 2016.
In the Pediatric Proton's letter, emphasis was of course placed on children receiving protons.
"In a recent study conducted by the Pediatric Proton Foundation and the National Association for Proton Therapy, it was determined in 2010, less than 500 children received proton therapy treatment in the U.S. It is estimated that annually over 3,000 newly diagnosed pediatric cancer patients could potentially benefit from protons. St. Jude’s new proton center can help fill the need. By St. Jude’s adopting proton therapy it will help protons to become more widely known and accepted in pediatric cancer treatment."
We wish St. Jude's the best.
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