OKLA. CITY — One of Oklahoma’s claims to fame that many people are just finding out about is the Oklahoma City ProCure Proton Therapy Center on Memorial Road.

The center opened in July of 2009 and is treating patients diagnosed with a broad range of tumor types including head and neck, brain, central nervous system, prostate, lung, sarcomas, gastrointestinal and many pediatric cancers.

It is one of nine centers in the country that use proton therapy in cancer recovery.

“The other centers, with the exception of Oklahoma City and one located in Chicago, Ill., are affiliated with hospitals and research centers,” said Nycke White, one of the managers of patient services. “Our goal is to make proton therapy available to as many people as possible.”

“Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation cancer treatment that precisely targets tumors,” White said, “and it is an alternative to traditional radiation. Proton therapy specifically targets and eliminates cancerous cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue and vital organs.”



Edmond ProCure grad

Edmond resident Mike Weigel, ProCure graduate No. 83, is a living example of proton therapy. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer almost a year ago.

“I was scared as hell when the doctor told me I had prostate cancer,” Weigel said. “It is always a shock to everyone when the word cancer is used with your name in front of it.”

Although his surgeon discussed different types of treatment with him, proton therapy was not mentioned.

“When I got back to the house and spoke with my family doctor he said to look at proton therapy,” Weigel said. “My wife Vickie and I talked to seven different medical people in the next two weeks, and each of them told us to look at proton therapy.”

Mike added it is not often that you can put the words “fun” and “cancer” in the same sentence, but his experience at the ProCure Cancer Center made it possible for him to do just that.

“It was a remarkable experience,” Mike said. “You can’t take any sort of cancer treatment and have any humility left. The word itself is mentally debilitating, but ProCure took the fear out of the word cancer.”

Although the time varies depending on the type of cancer and how far it has advanced, Mike said his treatments were about 20 minutes for each of his visits.

“I never missed a day of work or an appointment in the 44 times I went for treatment,” Mike said.  



Career-changing experience

For Vickie, Mike’s involvement with ProCure was a career-changing experience.

“Not only is proton therapy an amazing type of treatment, but we were both so impressed with the therapy and the overall treatment from staff and physicians that I told my husband I wanted to be part of ProCure.”

Vickie said although she was gainfully employed at that time she knew that working for ProCure was what she wanted to do. Now she is a manager of patient services, and she is able to help others going through the process with a personal touch, since she understands what they are going through.

She also works developing programs and luncheons for community groups explaining the treatments available at ProCure, many times having ProCure “graduates” — former patients — speak.

Each Wednesday the patients completing their treatments are honored at a luncheon and given a numbered coin.

“This Wednesday the 275th patient will receive a coin,” White said, “with between 50 and 60 patients still in some stage of treatment.”

Saying this is her dream job, Vicki said, “I am able to help people even though I am not a medical professional. Hadley Ford, CEO of ProCure, said each one of us should use our God-given talents to help cure cancer, and this is what I am doing.

“We are very, very fortunate to have this facility in our state.”



Proton therapy not new

Proton therapy is not a new therapy. Patients have been treated with proton therapy for more than 20 years at the original site at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. It was the first proton therapy facility in the world and until 2003, it was the only one in the United States.  

“We want to make sure they understand this treatment is not new, but only recently available in Oklahoma,” Vickie said. “We want our patients to make an educated decision for their own health.”

Insurance companies are seeing the long-term benefits with the fact that there are fewer side effects a plus.

In Mike’s case a ProCure worker applied to his insurance company four times before the company agreed to cover the procedure.

“A representative with the insurance company said when they sat down with the information provided by ProCure they saw the positive points including the fact that there were almost no negative side effects from the treatments,” Mike said. “The people at ProCure really go out of their way to help their patients.”

The cure rate is similar to other cures with the added advantage of a better quality of life during and after the treatments.

“Protons are no way shape or form experimental,” said Sameer Keole, M.D., medical director of the center and radiation oncologist at Radiation Medicine Associates, the radiation oncology practice that provides clinical care at the Center.

The cure rate, depending on the type of tumor is comparable to other cures.

“The difference is how you get to the end result,” Keole said. “Dose for dose I wouldn’t expect the cure rate to be higher or lower but the side effects will be lower.”

“We are especially proud to have the world’s first inclined beam room here in our facility,” Keole said. “It is an important technological advance.”

 

Center integrated

with Integris Health

The center is integrated with Integris Health, the state’s largest hospital system. Integris’ new, state-of-the art Cancer Institute of Oklahoma, located adjacent to the ProCure Proton Therapy Center, provides patients with additional medical services that they may need while undergoing proton therapy.

“A team of experienced radiation oncologists and highly skilled medical professionals are dedicated to providing exceptional patient care,” White said, “and at this time work is being done to develop a device to treat breast cancer.”

ProCure Cancer Center is at 5901 W. Memorial Road in Oklahoma City.



TO LEARN MORE about proton therapy and the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma visit procure.com/ok or call 773-6767 or 866-475-1285.

THE DETAILS

what you need to know



THE DETAILS

Cancer In Oklahoma



Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Oklahoma.

It is estimated that more than 18,500 Oklahoma citizens will be diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and that more than 7,500 Oklahomans will die from it.

About 60 percent of cancer patients in the United States currently receive traditional X-ray radiation.

About 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer during his lifetime, and prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men.

About 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer during her lifetime, with breast cancer the leading cancer diagnosis for Oklahoma women.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death nationally and in Oklahoma for both men and women, claiming nearly 2,400 lives annually in Oklahoma alone.

source: www.procure.com/ok