When was proton therapy first used for medical purposes?
Proton therapy was first used to treat patients in 1955 in a research setting, but its use was limited because diagnostic imaging techniques could not accurately pinpoint tumors. Following advances made in imaging technology such as CT, MRI, and PET scans, the first hospital-based proton treatment center opened in California in 1990 at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Proton therapy was first used to treat patients in Berkeley, California, in 1955 in a research setting. While promising, it wasn’t until advances in imaging technology, such as CT, MRI and PET scans, allowed doctors to accurately “see” the location, size and shape of cancer tumors. Accurately locating tumors made it possible to leverage the precision of protons. The first U.S. center opened at Loma Linda University Medical Center in 1990. More than 20 centers have opened in the past 20 years, and by 2008, there were 29 centers worldwide.
