JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville has announced plans to build a carbon ion treatment facility as part of its recently announced integrated oncology facility.
Mayo reached an agreement with Hitachi, Ltd. to build the facility at its Jacksonville campus.
Carbon ion therapy was discovered in the 1970’s in the United States, however Mayo says it will be the first carbon ion therapy treatment center in North America.
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The technology is available at only a handful of centers in Asia and Europe, according to Mayo Clinic.
Carbon ion therapy has potential as a tool for treating people with challenging cancers that don’t respond well to other therapies.
"Making new and innovative treatments available to patients with serious or complex health care needs is part of our DNA at Mayo Clinic,"says Kent Thielen, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. "We are proud to build on our long-standing relationship with Hitachi to make carbon ion therapy available to patients who will benefit from this technology."
In June, Action News Jax news partners WOKV reported Mayo Clinic’s plan to build a new $233 million integrated oncology facility that would include proton beam therapy.
At the time, Mayo said its proton beam therapy program uses pencil beam scanning, which delivers precise radiotherapy.
“Without the goal of Mayo Clinic to constantly be bringing new treatments and new ways of supporting the patient I would not be here," Cancer survivor Tanis Milicevic said.
“It’s so damaging to tumor cells that are much more resistant to conventional radiation treatment. We’re eager to understand and explore the scientific nature that needs more work,” explained Dr. Steven Buskirk with Mayo Clinic’s radiation and oncology department.
The facility was set to be completed in late 2023.
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