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A radiotherapy centre at Heidelberg University Hospital that treats cancer with beams of charged particles (protons, carbon ions and, since 2025, helium ions) instead of ordinary X-rays. It opened in 2009 and has treated about 10,000 people, adults and children.
HIT was opened on 2 November 2009 and treated its first patients on 15 November 2009. In the hospital's account it was the first facility in Europe to treat with both protons and heavy ions, which made comparative clinical studies possible. A synchrotron accelerates the ions to up to 75 per cent of the speed of light; two treatment rooms and a research room opened first, and a rotating gantry, 25 metres long, 13 metres wide and weighing 670 tonnes, was brought into service in 2012 so that the ion beam can be turned around the patient. A third ion source installed in 2013 added helium ions, used first for research, and in 2025 helium-ion irradiation entered clinical treatment alongside carbon ions and protons. The building cost 119 million euros, shared equally between Heidelberg University Hospital and the German federal government.
The centre treats selected cancers in adults, children and adolescents, with a stated focus on deep-seated or radioresistant tumours where sparing nearby healthy tissue matters, and is integrated with the hospital's radiation oncology department and linked to the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg. Its directors named on the hospital's timeline for the gantry opening were Jürgen Debus and Thomas Haberer. The hospital reports the 1,000th patient in July 2012, the 5,000th in August 2018 and about 10,000 by 2026.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion therapy, Proton therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy.
Shares Jürgen Debus, Carbon-ion therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy, Proton therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy.
Shares Carbon-ion synchrotrons and facilities, Carbon-ion therapy.
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