Northern Illinois University plans to build a world-class cancer treatment and research center in Chicago’s western suburbs that will provide state-of-the-art proton therapy to patients across the Midwest
The university has received $7.3 million in federal funding to begin formal planning for a non-profit proton therapy center at the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago. The park is contiguous to the northern boundary of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which in the late 1980s developed the first proton-therapy accelerator for use in cancer treatment.
Proton therapy is an advanced, highly effective form of radiation treatment, utilizing proton beams to treat cancer. Non-invasive and painless, it is a preferred treatment in many adult and pediatric cancers. Although the treatment is covered by numerous insurance plans, it is currently unavailable in Illinois.