Irving Proton Therapy facility construction to begin

IRVING – Construction of the 63,000-sf, $105 million Texas Center for Proton Therapy will begin in May 2013 and is expected to be complete by June 2014. Company officials plan to begin treating patients by early 2016.

The center, located at 1501 W. Royal Ln., is expected to employ about 50 people. The project is spearheaded by Dallas-based Texas Oncology, and supported by McKesson Specialty Health; and Baylor Health Enterprises, an affiliate of Baylor Health Care System.

About 10,000 patients are candidates for radiation treatments within a 150-mile radius of DFW annually, according to Scott Cheek, MD, Texas Oncology radiation oncologist at Baylor’s Sammons Cancer Center.

Additionally, a 100,000-sf, $225 million proton therapy center is being built on a 4.5-acre site near the UT Southwestern Medical District campus in Dallas. The project is being built and funded by San Diego-based Advanced Particle Therapy. The three-story building will have five treatment rooms, and will take about three years to build and equip.