After expressing doubts about the ability of Northern Illinois University to build a proton cancer treatment and research facility in 24 months, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board has approved the project.

But the approval at a Feb. 26 hearing in Chicago came with the condition that NIU officials make quarterly reports on the $160 million center scheduled to be built on 13 acres at the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago.

Currently there are only five proton cancer treatment centers in the United States, although several new centers are under construction or in the planning stages. One is being planned by Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

Said to be non-invasive, painless and precise, using protons is a preferred treatment in certain adult and pediatric cancers.

During a 90-minute hearing, longer than for most applications, Jeffrey Mark, executive secretary of the Board, told NIU leaders that “I believe you are placing the Board in a very difficult position.”

He noted that if something happens beyond the applicant’s control to delay completion, then the application for medical equipment is null and void, according to the Board’s rules.

“I am not questioning your commitment, but what happens if there is a shortage of concrete or something else that delays construction?” asked Mark. “There does not seem to be any wiggle room.”

The vice chairman of the Board also mentioned stipulations on the approval.

“This is a unique situation in which we can include stipulations,” said Susana Lopatka. “But there is no way this should not come to the Board since this application is 160 times the typical amount of an equipment request.”

Lopatka raised a question about what part state funds would play in the financing of the NIU proton center and noted problems Illinois has been having with financing.

Cherilyn Murer, a health care executive who also serves as the chairman of the NIU Board of Trustees, said the Center was not dependent on state funding and that the primary source of money was bonds.

“I understand the concern of your board. We are more than willing to give updates. We do not expect cost overruns. The Center is very doable,” she said. “We can commit to an open and amicable relationship with your Board. We will give you a sense of comfort. We want to be transparent.”

Frank Urso, legal counsel for the state Board, pointed out that NIU does not have a licensed medical facility.

Murer explained that NIU does not have a medical school, but the university is negotiating an agreement with physicians from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine to provide services at the center in West Chicago.

The NIU trustees chairman also noted that the University has had a long relationship with nearby facilities like the Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab.

The DuPage National Technology Park is contiguous to the northern boundary of Fermilab, which in the mid 1980s assisted in building and assembling the country’s first hospital-based proton treatment system for Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.

Murer said NIU has relied on the expertise of scientists at both laboratories in planning for the new proton center. “It is time to bring proton therapy homes to Illinois.

“We have the physics and engineering expertise to not only excel in the clinical operation of a proton cyclotron accelerator, but also the technical knowledge to grow the field of accelerator research to the next generation of clinical machines involved in proton treatment and delivery.”

She said proton therapy is recognized as the most precise and advanced form of radiation treatment available today, according to the National Association for Proton Therapy.

Conventional radiation often radiates healthy tissues in its path and surrounding the tumor site. Proton therapy more efficiently and precisely targets the tumor.

The proton beam has a low entrance dose into the human body, a high dose designed to cover the entire tumor, and no exit dose exposure beyond the tumor. Consequently, healthy tissue and organs are left intact.

These unique characteristics make proton therapy a preferred treatment option in many cancers, including pediatric varieties, where traditional radiation can damage developing healthy tissue.

The NIU center will deliver proton therapy for the treatment of pediatric, prostate and head/neck cancers, as well as for treatment of patients suffering from certain ophthalmologic disorders.