Johns Hopkins Sibley Proton Center - Virtual Tour

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Keeping You Safe During COVID

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, our doctors and care teams are taking extra precautions to make your visit as safe as possible. This includes physical distancing in the lobby and other areas; testing and screening of staff; use of masks and other personal protective equipment by our team members; special air filtration; and frequent cleaning and sanitizing of equipment.

Focused on You

Every member of our team is personally concerned about your wellbeing. They understand that each person is unique, and care is tailored specifically for your type of cancer and individual needs. Throughout your treatment, you have all of us ready to take care of your needs.

The Most Advanced Treatment Possible

We are one of the largest and most advanced proton centers in the U.S. With three treatment rooms and more than 30 specialists, our center combines the expertise of our team, innovative technology and advancements in research to provide better patient outcomes.

Multidisciplinary Team Ensures Most Accurate Treatment

Before treatment, physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and your radiation oncologist will carefully review the location of your tumor and the dose that you will receive. At our center, real-time “onboard” imaging is used to verify your position during your treatment. This ensures millimeter precision with treatments and lowers the risk of excess radiation.

The Most Advanced Treatment Available

Proton therapy begins with a huge particle accelerator, known as a synchrotron, that spins protons at ultra-fast speeds before making their journey along a beam line to our treatment rooms.

Having 360° treatment gantries means that we can be very precise in our treatment, even in the hardest to reach areas. Using pencil beam scanning technology to steer the protons to the cancer, proton therapy is delivered with the most precision currently available, potentially sparing surrounding tissues and vital organs from excess radiation.

Getting into Position

A radiation therapist will help to position you on the treatment table, and high-tech equipment helps us to place you exactly where you need to be. Treatment is quiet, although you may hear small sounds.

Translational Research

Translational research takes scientific discoveries in the lab and in clinical trials and transforms them into new treatments for patients. Johns Hopkins is constantly making new scientific discoveries.

Curing cancer is always our goal. While we search for a cure, our research gantry allows us to find new and innovative ways to use proton therapy, combined with other treatments, and quickly implement them to benefit patients.

What to Expect

On your first visit, you will meet with a proton therapy physician to talk about your unique needs. Together, we will develop a treatment plan to best treat your cancer.

When additional therapies will make a difference, Johns Hopkins experts from the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center work together to develop your treatment plan.

Targeting Your Tumor Before Treatment

Computerized Tomography (CT) imaging uses a combination of X-rays and computer technology to produce 3D images that are more detailed than standard X-rays. These images serve as the basis to create your treatment plan. Dual-energy CT uses two sets of images to more precisely determine the range of the proton beam and better focus the pencil beam technology, reducing the margin of any error that might exist.

Taking MRI Planning to the Next Level

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) produces detailed images of almost every internal structure in the human body – including organs, bones, muscles and blood vessels –using a large magnet and radio waves. MR images are used to precisely delineate the tumor and adjacent normal tissues. Image-based treatment planning with gating allows for better targeting of cancer, especially in moving tumors, such as those in the heart, lungs and abdomen, which move when breathing.

Special Expertise for Children

Johns Hopkins Medicine and Children’s National Hospital have collaborated to create one of the few dedicated pediatric proton therapy programs in the country. As national leaders in pediatric cancer care, we provide high-quality care for our youngest patients.

Letting Kids Be Kids

We know that cancer treatment can be difficult for your child to comprehend, which is why we created a center with a child’s perspective in mind. Our pediatric patients are separated from adult patients during their visits. The pediatric waiting room, nurses’ station and exam rooms have been thoughtfully designed to help your child feel more comfortable while in our center.

Our compassionate team interacts with your child on a level children can understand. We have a full-time child life specialist who works with children on a variety of needs.

Dedicated Multidisciplinary Pediatric Team

A multidisciplinary team is devoted to helping you and your child find the best treatments for a variety of pediatric cancers. Our team includes pediatric radiation oncology experts, pediatric nurses, nurse navigators and a child life specialist.

The Value of Proton Therapy for Children

In children, the ability to better steer protons to the cancer means that developing brains, hearts and lungs and growing bones can be better protected. Tumors that are close to vital organs — which in the small bodies of children can be many organs — in the brain, spine, chest, abdominal and pelvic regions are also well suited to proton therapy.

This is especially important for children who are growing. Proton therapy can reduce damage to development and IQ as well as decrease the chance for another cancer to develop years later as a result of treatment.

Making Children as Comfortable as Possible

Our child life specialist works with you and your child to prepare them for treatment. For small children, anesthesia is sometimes needed to help calm anxiety. We also find ways to ease a child’s anxiety through creative and natural approaches so that anesthesia may not be necessary.

Thanks To Our Donors

Thanks to our generous donors, patients and family members can enjoy the Sibley Meditation Garden, a serene place for rest and reflection. Many of the benches in the garden bear the names of our supporters. Please feel free to spend time here.