Opening of Rutherford Cancer Centre Thames Valley brings proton therapy to Reading

Cancer care in the South of England took a significant step forward today with the opening of the Rutherford Cancer Centre Thames Valley (3rd October).

Proton Partners International’s first centre, the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales in Newport, was the first clinic in the UK to treat a patient with high energy proton beam therapy in April this year. Since then, the centre has seen an increasing demand for the treatment, which previously could only be accessed by travelling to the USA or mainland Europe.

The Rutherford Cancer Centre Thames Valley is the first place in Europe to feature the Veritas SmartVue® Natural Light Window System, which is the first pre-engineered system of its kind to offer a window to the outside world within a radiotherapy room without the risk of exposure to radiation. The wall-length window allows patients a view of the ‘living wall’ garden before treatment begins and then covers securely to prevent radiation leaks. This is a marked change from the usual isolated radiation rooms which must be kept entirely separate with no link to the outside world.