Photo of the day: New therapy center adds one more tool in the fight against cancer
Noah Reeb and Taylor Lambert cut the ribbon at the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy, where they both received cancer treatment, at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Huntsman Cancer Institute on Wednesday formally dedicated the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy.
According institute located in Salt Lake City, cancer patients receive three primary types of treatment: chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy, which uses beams of energy to shrink a tumor.
Proton therapy is a sophisticated type of radiation therapy that uses pencil-thin beams of energy to kill or shrink a tumor. It is used for children and adults with cancer, particularly when the tumor is located near vital organs. Proton therapy kills the tumor while reducing impact to nearby healthy tissue.
Until now, the nearest proton therapy centers were more than 700 miles away, meaning Utahns with cancer who needed proton therapy would have to temporarily relocate to another city like Seattle, Los Angeles or Chicago
This $31 million facility is housed in a 7,450-square-foot, three-story expansion of Huntsman Cancer Institute. Once fully operational, it will treat 200 patients each year.
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The equipment includes a 110-ton gantry — a moveable framework that allows the equipment to rotate 190 degrees around the patient — and a 15-ton cyclotron. It accelerates protons to two-thirds the speed of light. This precision technology allows the treatment to target the tumor from the best angles and miss important structures in the body.
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Peter Huntsman and his mother, Karen Huntsman, share a moment at the opening celebration of the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Dr. Bill Salter, senior director of radiation oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, gives a tour of the mechanical room, with its 110-ton gantry, at the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. The rotating gantry holds a 15-ton cyclotron, which accelerates protons to two-thirds the speed of light before being beamed into the treatment room. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Rupert Steele, elder and chairperson of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indian Reservation, gives an invocation at the opening celebration of the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Noah Reeb, 9, center, a proton therapy patient, his sister, Scarlett, 6, and grandfather, Mark Mabry, left, greet President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at the opening of the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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David Huntsman, left, Christena Huntsman Durham, Peter Huntsman, Karen Huntsman and Paul Huntsman stand together on stage at the opening celebration of the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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President M. Russell Ballard, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, talks to Karen Huntsman while touring the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Dr. Bill Salter, senior director of radiation oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, gives a tour of the treatment room at the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Dr. Bill Salter, senior director of radiation oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, left, gives members of the Huntsman family a tour of the treatment room at the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. With Salter are, from left, David Huntsman, Christena Huntsman Durham, Paul Huntsman, Peter Huntsman and Karen Huntsman. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Dr. Bill Salter, senior director of radiation oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, left, gives members of the Huntsman family a tour of the treatment room at the Sen. Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. With Salter are, from left, David Huntsman, Christena Huntsman Durham, Paul Huntsman, Peter Huntsman and Karen Huntsman. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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