The Center was designed from the ground up to be dedicated to patient care and to the research necessary to advance that care. It opened in 1990 and was the first such facility in the world to be based in a hospital environment. For the past ten years, the Loma Linda University Medical Center Proton Treatment Center has built a solid reputation for treating prostate cancer patients with non-invasive proton therapy. Now, Loma Linda University engineers, physicists, and physicians are turning their attention to the needs of women with breast cancer. It is the most common form of cancer in women and the second-leading cause of cancer death for women, after lung cancer.
Every woman is at risk for breast cancer.
Several risk factors are known to increase a woman's chance of developing cancer. A woman may be at increased risk if she has a family history of the disease, if she has her first child after the age of 30, or if she has no children. More than 70 percent of women who develop breast cancer, however, have no known risk factors. The best chance for successful treatment occurs when the cancer is found early. If breast cancer is found early, it is more than 90 percent likely to be completely curable.