BIRMINGHAM, AL — Proton therapy, a radiation technology for treating cancer, has come to Alabama with the opening of Proton International at UAB. The Brasfield & Gorrie-constructed facility, begun in the winter of 2018, recently opened with a ribbon cutting and reception. The new center is a partnership between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Proton International.

Proton International at UAB is one of only 36 proton therapy centers in the United States and the first in Alabama.

Proton International at UAB consists of a three-story building to house clinical exam rooms, offices and the ProBeam proton therapy system, manufactured by Varian Medical Systems, a long-time partner with UAB in the delivery of radiation therapy. The medical staff, including radiation oncologists, medical physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapy technologists and nurses, will be exclusively from UAB.

The heart of proton therapy is a machine called a cyclotron, which produces the proton beam and delivers it to the precise location in the body to destroy tumor cells. Proton International at UAB’s cyclotron, nick-named Emma, was manufactured in Germany. The $25-million, 90-ton cyclotron was brought by ship to Brunswick, Georgia, then transported to UAB last March by a specialized truck, with 20 axles, 78 wheels and drivers in front and back. A heavy-lift crane was assembled to lift and deposit Emma into the facility via the roof.