Construction began for NIU’s proton therapy center this summer and, despite a lawsuit threat, it is progressing on schedule.

The site for the center is in West Chicago, just north of the Fermilab, and will be one of six centers in the country that treats cancer using proton beams.

John Lewis, executive director of the facility and associate vice president for University Outreach at NIU, has been pleased with the construction.

“Like any project, I think you always hope that it goes faster than it does, but I think we’re making good progress toward getting there and we’re still looking to finish it within the original parameters,” Lewis said.

The project is not without obstacles, however. ProCure, a private, for-profit company in Bloomington, Ind., partnered with Central DuPage Hospital and Radiation Oncology Consultants, Inc., filed for a certificate of need to build their own proton therapy center in Warrenville, just six miles away from NIU’s facility, and were denied.

ProCure then filed to sue NIU and accused the university of violating the Illinois Antitrust Act, even if NIU already won state approval in February to build the $160 million facility.

About five weeks ago, ProCure filed a petition for discovery, which will determine who they will sue for damages. The hearing for the petition of discovery will be on Sept. 22.

“You spend time and energy in dollars fighting off these legal issues as opposed to work on the project,” Lewis said concerning the lawsuit. “I don’t think it’s slowed the project down, it’s just that it’s required more time and energy and dollars than we expected.”

Construction continues, and Lewis estimates the facility will treat its first patient by early 2010.

In the last month, workers have been preparing the site to lay the foundation for the building and will be constructing pylons to support the building. Foundation work is expected to begin by the end of September or the first week of October.

Construction for the device that will generate the proton beams is underway in Germany and will be ready for delivery in spring 2009.

Proton therapy treatment is non-invasive with fewer side effects, as a proton beam is shot into cancerous cells within the body. The cells are damaged and their ability to regenerate is destroyed, which kills them.

The treatment has been available for over 50 years but is not widely known because of the high costs in technology and equipment that are required. However, its effectiveness has been proven .

“It is not a panacea for cancer but it is a distinct advantage that facilitates the aggressive and dominant use of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in areas that could not otherwise be done so it is absolutely a very time-tested proven therapy,” said Dr. Allan Thornton, the medical director of the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute.