Thames Valley: Proton Partners to build new cancer-treatment centre

Proton Partners International has received formal planning permission to build a new cancer treatment centre in Reading. It will invest £30 million in the centre which will be located at the Thames Valley Science Park. The centre will offer proton-beam therapy among other conventional cancer therapies. It will also include a linear accelerator, a CT suite and an MRI.

The Reading centre will be the third to be built in the UK by Proton Partners and will help to meet growing demand for proton-beam therapy, a specialised type of cancer treatment that is not yet available in the UK. Two other centres are already under construction in Wales and Northumberland. 

It is expected that each Proton Partners centre will be able to treat up to 500 patients a year and will accept NHS patients, medically-insured private patients and self-paying patients.

Mike Moran, chief executive officer of Proton Partners, said: “We’re bringing the top cancer technology to Reading, and this investment will not only enhance the level of cancer treatment available, but will also bring skilled jobs to the area.”

Ivor Brown, senior project manager at GRAHAM Construction, said: “This is our second project at the Thames Valley Science Park, the first being The Gateway Building, which is already on site. The project includes elements of off-site construction and therefore, it is vital to have a systematic management programme in place.”

The Thames Valley Science Park is part of The University of Reading’s plans to build a science park which aims to create up to 5,000 jobs and provide 800,000 sq ft of laboratory and office space.

Professor Gordon McVie, founding editor of ecancer.org, said: "By PPI calculations the UK will need a substantial investment in proton facilities, maybe more than 20 in due course, depending on the results of ongoing trials (over a thousand) which are evaluating the place of proton treatment in many different cancers. PPI is in the vanguard of this effort and looks to grow steadily over the next quinquennial, throughout the country."