Galicia has begun the construction of the first proton therapy center in the public healthcare thanks in part to the donation made by businessman Amancio Ortega of 280 million euros.
The new center will be located in the vicinity of the Santiago Clinical Hospital and is expected to begin operating in 2025. Currently in Spain there are only of the centers doctors who offer this technology, but both are private.
The president of the Xunta, Alfonso Ruedain the event that marked the beginning of the foundations, pointed out that it will be a “pioneer” center. This will have one of the machines donated to the National Health System by the Amancio Ortega Foundation.
Cancer patients may benefit from this treatment “not only from Galicia, but also from Asturias and Castilla y León“.
For the construction of the center, 19.8 million euros and the works will last about 15 months. “However, there would be several more months to be able to install and readjust the protontherapy or ‘cyclotron’ equipment.”
What is proton therapy?
Proton accelerators are especially indicated for the treatment of cancer in children y difficult tumors access, proton therapy is the most precise and most advanced technology available to fight cancer through radiotherapy.
Some accelerators that are estimated to be able to treat more than 1,000 new cases which according to experts could be treated with proton therapy. Approximately 2-3% of patients diagnosed with cancer are candidates for this treatment.
A fundamental attack plan for the therapy to work: “With conventional radiotherapy sometimes it cannot be completed because nearby organs are damaged. Thanks to proton therapy we are more preciseand tolerance is better, that is why patients can complete the treatment, which is an advantage, sometimes with other treatments it is not possible to continue because there has been a lot of damage to other tissues,” explains oncologist Marta Montero Feijoo, from the Center of Quirónsalud Protontherapy.
Furthermore, thanks to this precision can be achieved more effectiveness with fewer side effects. Which is important, especially considering the patients they treat.
Top ten teams in Spanish healthcare
In October 2021, the Amancio Ortega Foundation agreed with the Government of Spain and various communities autonomous organizations a donation of 280 million euros to install ten proton accelerators in the public health system.
With the incorporation of these first ten teams, Spanish healthcare will be in the leading group among the countries that have this technology and will have the capacity to treat thousands of patients near your place of residence.
The equipment will be installed in the Autonomous Communities of: Galicia (Santiago de Compostela), Catalonia (Barcelona, two teams), Basque Country (Bizkaia), Madrid (two teams), Andalusia (Malaga and Seville), Valencia and islands Canary Islands (Gran Canaria).
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