$25 Million Cyclotron Brings New Cancer Treatment to AL
A 90-ton cyclotron arrived Tuesday on the campus of UAB. The machine will be part of a new proton therapy center, bringing a specialized cancer treatment to Alabama.
A crowd gathered Tuesday to witness a crane lift the giant cyclotron and slowly lower it through a hole in the roof of a building. That building, called the UAB Proton Center, was built specifically to house the machine.
Dr. James Bonner, chairman of radiation oncology at UAB, watched from the street below.
“Well you can see it’s kind of a glob of metal right now,” Bonner said of the new cyclotron. “So it’s been put together in a tight format so it can be shipped across the ocean.”
The cyclotron was built in Germany and took about a month to make its way to Birmingham. It costs around $25 million. The device is owned by a company called Proton International, but UAB clinical staff will be in charge of operating it. Once it is up and running, the cyclotron will spin protons really fast and generate a beam of energy to target cancerous tumors. Bonner says this is the first time this kind of treatment will be available in Alabama.
“I don’t think it’s worth the investment to have one of these on every street corner,” Bonner says. “This is a type of radiation that’s very specific for certain types of tumors.”
He says the cyclotron is more precise than traditional radiation, so it doesn’t damage surrounding tissue. That is better for treating kids or targeting tumors at the base of the skull. Bonner says UAB hopes to treat its first patient with the machine in January of next year.
No Kings protests: What to expect at Saturday’s marches around the country
This summer, organizers said more than 5 million people participated in No Kings protests against President Trump. Organizers say they expect an even bigger turnout this time around.
As they go unpaid, Capitol Police are a daily reminder for lawmakers of shutdown pain
The more than 2,000 officers on the force missed their first full paycheck Oct. 10, leaving them to go without pay at a moment when the officials they protect face growing threats and violence.
Does the sale of Dominion Voting Systems mean a transformation? Depends who’s asking
Dominion Voting Systems is at the heart of countless 2020 election conspiracy theories. The company has now been sold, and its new owner has shared contrasting messaging about how much will change.
After Zelenskyy meeting, Trump calls on Ukraine and Russia to ‘stop where they are’ and end the war
President Donald Trump on Friday called on Kyiv and Moscow to "stop where they are" and end their brutal war following a lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Shohei Ohtani hits 3 homers and strikes out 10 in Dodgers’ clinching 5-1 NLCS win over Brewers
Shohei Ohtani propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series with a two-way performance for the ages.
President Trump commutes the prison sentence of George Santos
The disgraced New York Republican was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a litany of federal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft.
