Bringing seven years of planning and development to completion, the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) opens it doors this week to begin treating cancer patients with proton therapy. The work and effort to make this achievement possible required the persistence and talents of Indiana University administration, IU faculty, Indiana business leaders and local and state government officials.

MPRI is the only proton radiotherapy facility in the Midwest, only the fourth in the United States and one of only 15 such facilities in the world. Proton radiotherapy is an alternative to conventional X-ray radiation therapy, both of which are used to kill cancer cells and other rogue tissue. Unlike X-rays, however, proton radiation does not do significant damage to the healthy cells around a cancerous growth. Minimizing the death of healthy tissue is especially important when the patient is a child who still has a lot of growing to do. Proton therapy is an approved way to deliver precise radiation therapy to select benign and cancerous tumors.

Mark Long, President of MPRI, said, “We are glad to have this healthcare resource now available to offer to the Bloomington community, Indiana and all the midwestern states. MPRI already has 50 patients on a waiting list who were referred to our new facility by their physicians. As a powerful tool in the fight against cancer, we anticipate many more patients will benefit through proton treatment therapy at our facility in the months to come.”

History

Since 1997, discussions about the development of a proton radiotherapy center in Bloomington, Indiana had been in progress. The creation of the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute became mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill of 1999. U.S. congressmen Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) and Rep. John Hostettler, (R-Ind.) supported the bill, which made provisions for local economic development initiatives in Indiana and throughout the country.

Housing and Urban Development was joined by the state of Indiana, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Special Programs, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs in providing approximately $10 million in funding for the design and construction of MPRI.

John Cameron, the director of the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF), foresaw the need for IUCF’s nuclear physics research to find new uses for its equipment and skilled staff. To that end, Cameron provided crucial support for the creation of a medical facility that could utilize the IUCF’s high-quality proton beam.
By 2001, MPRI had hired three of the four directors of the facility’s senior management team: Dr. Allan Thornton became MPRI’s first medical director; Ed Dickey, MPRI clinical director and Niek Schreuder the institute’s first medical physicist. Director of Finance Herschel Workman was hired in 2003.

MPRI Medical Director, Dr. Allan Thornton said, “We will be able to treat and cure patients from all over the world who come to MPRI. We are committed to providing compassionate, sensitive care for patients in our new, state-of-the art proton therapy facility that meets the highest standards of medical care.”