Clarian joins in MPRI partnership

Clarian Health Partners and the Advanced Research and Technology Institute (ARTI), an affiliate of IU, announced last month that Clarian is in the process of acquiring a 50 percent interest in MPRI. MPRI will be one of only three facilities in the country that provides proton radiotherapy. Clarian’s partnership and expertise will allow MPRI to broaden its services to treat more patients from the region.

Clarian’s $13 milllion investment will broaden the treatment MPRI will provide.

“Clarian Health’s investment in MPRI allows us to take a step forward for better health care in a more efficient and expeditious manner,” said Mark Long, ARTI president and CEO. “We are grateful Clarian Health has decided to join us in this partnership. We’ll be able to treat more patients, treat more types of cancer and treat them better.”

“We are very excited to again partner with Indiana University. Like us, IU is committed to bringing excellence to the people of Indiana,” said Daniel F. Evans Jr., president and CEO of Clarian Health Partners.

“This partnership allows Clarian to ensure that patients throughout Indiana and the region have access to the very best in technology and patient care. We are thrilled to be involved in the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, and we look forward to finding new ways to build partnerships that enhance patient care and technology throughout the state of Indiana,” Evans said.

Clarian’s $13 million investment will allow for the purchase of two additional gantries, equipment that broadens the treatments MPRI can provide. MPRI is already equipped to treat head and neck tumors; the new gantries will give MPRI doctors the ability also to treat prostate and colon cancers by allowing the technicians to direct the proton beam to harder-to-reach parts of the body.

New equipment at MPRI will allow treatment for both prostate and colon cancers.

The institute receives proton beam from the IU Cyclotron Facility, located on the IU Bloomington campus, which has operated accelerators for more than 25 years. MPRI is scheduled to open its doors to patients this spring.

Proton radiotherapy is a safer and more effective alternative to conventional X-ray radiation therapy, both of which are used to kill cancer cells and other rogue tissue.

Proton therapy uses a beam of high energy protons to destroy cancerous cells and other dangerous growths in patients. The proton beam delivers most of its energy directly to the cancerous cells, leaving healthy tissues around the growth in better condition than conventional radiation therapy.