Coming in the summer of 2025, the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) health network will begin offering a game-changing form of radiotherapy for adult and pediatric patients in our community and across the state and region. It’s called proton therapy—and it’s already making headlines.
“Froedtert & MCW will soon join some of the nation’s elite NCI-designated Cancer Centers in offering proton therapy and in-room, image-based guidance and adaptation,” said Christopher Schultz, MD, FACR, FASTRO, Bernard and Miriam Peck Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “We’re on track to treat our first patient in summer 2025.” Currently, there are fewer than 50 proton therapy centers in the United States.
A New Frontier in Radiation Therapy
Proton therapy and traditional radiation therapy both share the same goal—to damage the DNA of cancer cells and stop them from growing. However, proton therapy has a distinct advantage: it reduces the amount of radiation that reaches healthy parts of the body. This is particularly beneficial for treating children, liver tumors, or areas that have previously received radiation.
Using images from a patient’s CT or MRI scans, radiation oncologists develop a computer-generated plan to program proton beams to target the tumor with precision. Protons are then accelerated to high speeds and enter the body, slowing down as they travel. Once the protons reach the tumor, they immediately stop and deliver the programmed dose of radiation. Unlike traditional radiation therapy that travels beyond the tumor and potentially damages healthy tissue, “proton therapy stops on a dime,” said Dr. Schultz. This makes it an ideal treatment option for tumors located near vital organs and for minimizing side effects in growing children.
Expanded Research and Clinical Opportunities
Froedtert & MCW clinicians and investigators are already looking ahead to the future impact proton therapy brings to patients. Through a continued partnership with Children’s Wisconsin, proton therapy will offer the ability to treat any pediatric patient needing radiation therapy. In some cases, it provides another powerful tool for adults and children who haven’t responded to traditional forms of radiation treatment.
“The greatest impact of proton therapy in cancer care is seen in childhood cancers. Offering this advanced treatment to our pediatric patients will further solidify the Pediatric Radiation Oncology and Pediatric Oncology programs as leaders nationwide. I'm proud to collaborate with my exceptional colleagues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our youngest patients,” said Selim Firat, MD, Director of Pediatric Radiation Oncology at Children's Wisconsin.
“The proton therapy clinic will include a diagnostic quality, in-room CT scan that will expand research expertise related to image-guided and adaptive radiation therapy,” added Dr. Schultz. “By offering daily high-quality CT images, we can tailor treatment plans according to each patient’s anatomical and potentially biological changes.”
The program will also enable investigational studies related to the use of FLASH-RT, a new technique that delivers a high dose of radiation in a short period of time. It holds the promise of very effective treatment with fewer to no side effects.
“Proton therapy will enable us to provide some of the most advanced radiotherapy services anywhere in the world,” said William Hall, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology and Surgery, School of Graduate Studies; medical director of Radiation Oncology for the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network. “We have clinical trials in development that will test the most novel and innovative ways of delivering various exciting types of radiation therapy. Moreover, this will allow us to participate in extremely well-designed cooperative group and NCI-funded randomized trials, robustly testing proton therapy.”
Clinical trials will focus on identifying potential benefits of proton therapy for tumors arising in the breast, soft tissue, and musculoskeletal sites, and select mediastinal, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic tumors. “This will include NCI-sponsored cooperative clinical trials and investigator-initiated clinical trials leveraging the Radiation Oncology Committee to Advance Knowledge and Education through Clinical Trials (ROCKET) program,” said Dr. Schultz.
Learn more about proton therapy coming to the Froedtert & MCW health network in summer 2025