Ten years after bringing Proteus® ONE, the world’s first compact image guided scanning proton therapy system, to Shreveport-Bossier, Willis Knighton Cancer Center will welcome another first.

The Particle Therapy Cooperative Group – North America (PTCOG NA) will hold its annual meeting in Shreveport-Bossier in November 2025.  PTCOG NA was created to enhance collaboration, scientific exchange, treatment guidelines and education for particle (proton) therapy. It will be the first time the international group has utilized a cancer center and city our size, said Lane R. Rosen, MD, medical director of radiation oncology at Willis Knighton Health.

The conference has always been held at the largest academic centers in the country in cities such as New York, Miami, Houston and Chicago. The meeting draws radiation oncologists, physicists, dosimetrists, and other specialists from leading cancer centers Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, Massachusetts General Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, among others. All will be represented at the  Shreveport meeting, Dr. Rosen said.

Having the PTCOG NA meeting in Shreveport is a testament to the Willis Knighton radiation oncology leadership position in proton therapy. “When Willis Knighton Cancer Center began treating patients with proton therapy in 2014, it was years ahead of most sites in the country,” Dr. Rosen said. It is still the only proton therapy center in Louisiana and has served as an international training and education site for proton therapy. The department was the recipient of the George Starkschall Award by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine for an article describing the commissioning of Proteus® ONE.

“We are very excited and proud for our whole team,” Dr. Rosen said. “Having this prestigious meeting at our center is the perfect celebration of a decade of proton therapy.”