The Proton Therapy Center (PTC) was opened in 2012. Since then, about 8,500 patients have been treated here. Mainly patients from Czech and Slovak Republics, but also from all over the world are treated here.

Thanks to the latest technologies and the professional experience of PTC doctors with proton radiotherapy, a wide range of diagnoses can be successfully treated here. These include prostate cancer, breast cancer, cancers of the central nervous system, tumors in the head and neck, malignant lymphomas, tumors in children, but also tumors of the esophagus, pancreas, hepatocellular carcinoma, selected lung tumors and retroperitoneal sarcomas.

Protons are characterized by a specific physical property, called the Bragg peak. As the proton beam passes through the human body, it loses only a small part of its energy and transfers most of its energy to the tumor tissue, where it stops. Thus, the proton beam protects healthy tissues before the tumor and does not damage healthy tissues behind the tumor. The PBS (pencil beam scanning) system, which is available at PTC, enables the highest accuracy and thus the possibility of a significant reduction of the radiation dose.

PTC is involved in domestic and international cooperation. The expertise of particle therapy has been covered since 1985 by the professional organization PTCOG (Particle Therapy Cooperative Group), whose management is based mainly in the US.

The Proton Therapy Center in Prague and other European centers regularly take part in PTCOG activities. In 2016, PTC was also commissioned to organize the annual PTCOG congress in Prague. The aim of PTCOG is to support science, technology and practical applications in particle therapy in order to improve the standard in radiation therapy.

In addition to PTCOG, particle therapy issues are also addressed within the EU through ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology). ESTRO’s priority is to maintain databases of patients treated with particle therapy for selected diagnoses. In 2015, ESTRO conceived the “EPTN” (European Particle Therapy Network) and, since 2017, has been implementing and expanding it. The primary purpose of the EPTN is to enable cooperation between particle therapy centers and to facilitate research activities. The main goal is to integrate particle therapy into standard radiotherapy.

Prague’s PTC participates in both EPTN’s and PTCOG’s activities, and is represented in WP groups. At PTC, EPTN activities are considered a rational way to integrate particle therapy into standard procedures in the EU, even with regard to the specifics of the Czech Republic.

• In 2015, PTC was one of the first centers in the world to use proton irradiation with deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) and body surface detection with Vision RT in patients with left-sided breast cancer and malignant lymphoma located in the mediastinum. This method of treatment makes it possible to reduce the exposure of the heart and lungs and thus lowering the risk of heart and lung diseases.
• In 2019, PTC began treating a new and world-unique diagnosis: leukemia of the central nervous system. If patients with leukemia have a central nervous system (CNS) or extracorporeal disease (myelosarcoma) and the treating hematologist-oncologist recommends radiotherapy, then proton therapy is a more appropriate alternative to standard photon radiotherapy. The use of proton radiotherapy instead of conventional radiation can, in these cases, reduce the side effects of treatment, which otherwise significantly worsens quality of life when using older techniques.

• The Proton Therapy Center is a co-author of international recommendations for the treatment of malignant lymphomas. PTC participates in clinical trials initiated by Oxford University. We are currently the center with the highest number of treated patients with malignant lymphoma with mediastinal involvement.
• PTC and FNM (Motol University Hospital) doctors have conducted a world-unique study in patients treated with ultra-hypofractionated proton radiotherapy for prostate cancer . The study followed a total of 279 patients treated for prostate cancer with proton radiotherapy over 8 years and produced interesting results. These show that 5 years after treatment, 97% of patients with low-risk prostate cancer were cured and did not have an increase in PSA. A total of 90% of patients with moderate risk prostate cancer were cured. In addition, none of the prostate cancer patients died and all patients had minimal toxicity.