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Proton centre

PARTICLE is a high-technological centre for proton therapy.

Thanks to a different radiation technique, tumours can be radiated more accurately.

In addition to treating cancer patients, the centre also researches the further development of proton therapy.

How does proton therapy work?

Registration proton therapy

Proton therapy

Proton therapy is an innovative type of radiotherapy that uses proton beams instead of a photon beams (X-rays) such as in classic radiotherapy.

How does it work?

Proton therapy uses a bundle of proton, positively charged particles, which originate from the core of an atom, and which only emit their maximum dose when reaching a certain depth in the body, after which radiation completely stops (in contrast to photons).

What are the benefits?

The main benefit of proton therapy with respect to the current photon therapy is that healthy tissue behind the tumour can be spared as much as possible, reducing the global radiation load in case of treatment with protons.

Who qualifies?

Proton therapy is not the most suitable radiation technique for all tumours. The patient's age, the type of tumour, the size and shape of the tumour, the localisation and the position in relation to the surrounding healthy tissue strongly determine the benefit of protons.

Referral procedure

Information for referring physicians about which patients qualify for proton therapy, how the application needs to be submitted and information on follow-up during and after treatment.

Infrastructure

The supplier of the proton therapy device is IBA. This Belgian company is the worldwide technological leader in the field of proton therapy. The device that has been installed in the clinical bunker is the Proteus®ONE: a compact device that left sufficient room for a second bunker specifically for research.

The building

The new proton centre is an important project in the medical world; a national and international leading institute. The essence of the design of the building was to be able to provide this high technological form of radiation to the patient in high-quality and safe manner.

Collaboration proton centre PARTICLE

The Particle Therapy Interuniversity Centre Leuven – or PARTICLE for short - is an interuniversity project of the University Hospitals Leuven - KU Leuven and Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc ∙ UCLouvain, supported by UZ Gent, CHU UCL Namur, UZ Brussel and UZA

Scientific research

The proton therapy centre includes 2 areas, also called bunkers. One is used for the treatment of patients and clinical research, the other for more applied preclinical research.

Specialists

Overview of the radiation-oncologists that work in PARTICLE with a specialisation in proton therapy

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First patient with oesophageal cancer treated with proton therapy

14 December 2022
At the end of November, it was the first time a patient with oesophageal cancer was treated in Belgium. This was done in the Leuven proton therapy centre PARTICLE, as part of the first European phase 3 study on the potential benefits of proton irradiation in that type of cancer.

Building with proton therapy bricks

1 May 2021
A gigantic radiation machine revolving around you while you're all alone in a medical bunker: a treatment in the Leuven proton therapy centre can be pretty frightening for children. To familiarise them a bit with what will happen in the hospital, a Lego building set was devised.

First patients receive radiation therapy in the Leuven proton therapy centre

16 September 2020
The first patients to receive radiation therapy in the brand new proton therapy centre in Leuven were treated over the summer of 2020. Proton therapy is an innovative form of radiotherapy which targets a tumour very precisely, causing minimal damage to the surrounding tissue.
Last edit: 14 December 2022