Proton therapy research
HollandPTC outpatient centre in Delft recently started treating patients using proton therapy. This form of radiotherapy for cancer is new to the Netherlands. Parallel to this new treatment programme, TU Delft and the LUMC and Erasmus MC university medical centres are cooperating as part of HollandPTC to develop innovations in the care of cancer patients. Treatment, teaching and research are being combined at HollandPTC to provide care which is both better and responsible.
Proton therapy requires the use of complex technology, particularly for identifying the exact target of the protons and determining the effect they have on the cancer cells. To facilitate this, TU Delft has established a major proton therapy research programme.
Innovation in Cancer Care | Research driven proton therapy
HollandPTC is an independent outpatient centre in Delft that provides proton therapy to patients. Proton therapy is a form of radiotherapy for cancer that uses protons instead of X-rays. The advantage of proton therapy is that the radiation dose can be targeted much more precisely at the tumour. Damage to the surrounding healthy tissue is kept to a minimum, so there is also less likelihood of side effects. This independent outpatient centre was jointly established by Erasmus MC, LUMC and TU Delft. These institutions have been working together for more than ten years to introduce proton therapy in the Netherlands, and to develop clinical and technical innovations to improve the therapy further and provide teaching at the interface of medical and technical science. The first cancer patients were treated at the centre in 2018.
HollandPTC stands for research-driven therapy and therapy-driven research; clinical treatments inspire new research questions and promising innovations can be validated in clinical practice. The joint scientific research conducted at HollandPTC focuses on establishing the value of proton therapy and improving the treatment itself.