December 24, 2013 — A patient with a rare type of cancer (chondrosarcoma) at the base of the skull has become the first person in the world to receive proton therapy using the Mevion S250 proton therapy system from Mevion Medical Systems Inc. of Littleton, Mass. Radiation oncologists at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis delivered the treatment. The S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital is home to the Mevion S250, a proton therapy device designed to deliver the same precise, non-invasive treatments delivered by conventional proton systems but with a reduced physical footprint, streamlined clinical workflow and lower implementation and operational costs.
“We are extremely pleased and proud to open the Kling Proton Therapy Center for the St. Louis community and beyond,” said Rich Liekweg, president, Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The closest proton therapy center is over 230 miles away from St. Louis. “The ability to add proton therapy to our world-class cancer care program in a significantly smaller and more economical package is imperative in today’s challenging health care environment. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the first in the world to operate a single-room proton therapy system and the addition of this advanced technology continues our tradition of providing the best care for our patients.”
Proton therapy delivers highly precise doses of radiation while limiting unnecessary radiation to healthy tissue, potentially decreasing radiation side effects and improving patient outcomes. Mevion’s ability to provide proton therapy in a compact form provides patients and clinicians access to proton therapy without the high entry and maintenance costs plaguing conventional proton systems.
“The ability to treat with this advanced technology is no longer encumbered by astronomical costs, prohibitive space requirements and technologically cumbersome systems that to date have defined this treatment modality,” said Joseph Jachinowski, CEO, Mevion Medical Systems. “The Mevion S250 proves that all the benefits and more of these legacy proton therapy systems can be delivered in a fiscally responsible manner.”
The pioneering proton team at the Kling Proton Therapy Center has been working for the past several months running the Mevion S250 through independent clinical quality assurance tests to ensure that system specifications, safety and reliability requirements are met.
“The advanced clinical workflow provided by the Mevion S250 and its full integration within the clinic has made it simple and straightforward to train the radiation therapy staff and prepare their clinic for day-to-day treatments,” said Stanley Rosenthal, Ph.D.,vice president, clinical systems and education, Mevion. “The initial training experience of the therapists demonstrates that the Mevion S250 workflow and delivery times are comparable to today’s image-guided radiation therapy techniques.”
Four additional Mevion S250 proton therapy systems are under installation at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, N.J.; the Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma University, Oklahoma City; First Coast Oncology, Jacksonville, Fla.; and the Proton Therapy Center, Orlando Health, Orlando, Fla. In addition, the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals, Cleveland, broke ground on its Mevion S250 center in September and has taken delivery of the first system module.
For more information: www.mevion.com
March 28, 2024 
