Presentation

History of the Proton Therapy Center

A particle accelerator was installed for the Institut Curie, then the Radium Institute, in 1954, and since then constant advances in particle physics have led to the development of innovative treatments of cancer.

A large-scale refurbishment has been under way since 2005, and is scheduled to end in 2010. The aim is to double the number of patients the Proton Therapy Center can treat. The Center has been dependent upon the Institut Curie Hospital since January 2006.

Proton therapy and the synchrocyclotron

Proton therapy is a high-precision radiation treatment that uses the advantageous ballistic properties of protons to deliver their energy to different depths within the diseased tissue.

The synchrocyclotron is a particle accelerator whose principle of operation compensates for the gain in mass of particles as they approach the speed of light, thereby reaching an energy of 200 MeV.