Proton therapy when compared to traditional radiation treatments can be four to seven times more due to the specialized equipment and expertise required to run the equipment.
Proton therapy equipment price.
Most proton beam facilities costs less 20 million to 150 million for single and multiroom facilities according to scott warwick executive director of the national association of proton therapy.
Proton therapy equipment at the mayo clinic in rochester minnesota.
Harder to quantify are the cost savings from the reduced side effects and reduced radiation exposure proton therapy offers.
The equipment required for proton beam treatment is massive and expensive.
Particle accelerators don t come cheap.
For head and neck cancers proton therapy reduces patient weight loss and the need for feeding tubes factors that dramatically reduce the gap between proton and x ray therapy particularly toward the end of treatment.
The equipment used for proton therapy initially carried a price tag of between 120 million and 200 million which gave many facilities pause lagasse writes.
Without insurance proton therapy costs can range anywhere from as little as 30 000 to more than 135 000 without insurance.
But that calculus is changing.