Two proton therapy centers are scheduled to open in 2010 in DuPage County, one of which is tied to NIU.

Central DuPage Hospital, located in Winfield, shares a border with West Chicago, which would make the only two proton therapy centers in Illinois in neighboring towns.

The state has not yet made an official decision on building the second plant yet, said Cherilyn Murer, Board of Trustees chair. Whether the second plant will be built is in the state’s hands and will be decided in April.

However, if the state approves the second plant, having two proton therapy centers within a five-mile radius could be problematic for the centers, Murer said. The university will continue to focus on its objectives if the second center is built, she said.

From a treatment perspective, both centers could be beneficial for the area.

The Central DuPage Hospital center would be able to treat 1,500 patients a year. The two facilities combined could treat 3,000 people a year.

Under conservative estimates, 30 percent of cancer cases could benefit from proton treatment, according to Central DuPage Hospital. Thirty percent of cases could account for 10,800 cases per year in Illinois and 6,840 per year in the Chicago metropolitan area, according to the hospital.

“Today, if Illinois patients are candidates for proton therapy, they must be referred to one of the five centers currently operating in the United States,” said the hospital in a press release. “With so few treatment centers available, only about 9,000 people can be treated a year of the more than 250,000 who might be eligible.”

Even though NIU does not have a formal medical school, the university does stand to benefit from a proton therapy center.

“The real focus is on science; it is radiation therapy and is appropriately synergistic with the work we are doing in neutron [research],” Murer said. “Given our exceptional physics program, I think NIU is a very appropriate venue to host this type of medical facility.”

NIU will be working with physicians from Northwestern University and the Northwestern Faculty Foundation at the center, Murer said. Interface with some of the best medical schools in country allows NIU to be a catalyst for development in proton therapy, she said.

The center also provides NIU with opportunities to develop new programs.

Though no specific plans exist as of yet, the provost and faculty are looking at the possibilty of new areas of academic development concerning the center, Murer said.

“NIU intends to become the university in the U.S. that trains people to staff future proton therapy facilities,” Murer said in a press release. “NIU will build curricula that provide university education and training for medical physics, oncology nursing, related allied health fields, engineering and accelerator physics, as well as programming in radiation therapy and dosimetry and residency and fellowship opportunities for physicians, all in proton therapy.”