A brand new multi-million dollar facility will benefit hundreds of Oklahomans.  The new ProCure Proton Therapy Center is one of only six in the nation.  It gives options to Oklahomans battling cancer without having to leave the state.  KSBI-TV's Kealey McIntire has more.

"What you do and what you're going to do is going to mean so much, not just to the patients, but to the families," says the tearful wife of cancer survivor, Steward Taylor.

Taylor traveled to California for his proton treatment.  He is a prostate cancer survivor.

The Stewart's traveled hundreds of miles, but the new ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City will treat as many as 1,500 patients a year.

The 60,000 square foot center celebrated its grand opening Wednesday.

Doctors call the treatment administered at the center the most "cutting edge" type of radiation therapy.  They say it's less damaging than conventional treatment options.

"Protons are like a firecracker.  They're dangerous, but you put the firecracker right in the middle of the cancer and you damage the cancer without causing damage to the normal surrounding tissues," says Dr. Sameer Keole with Radiation Medicine Associates.

Keole says it allows people like Josh Prochotsky to continue living life.

"It was the best thing because I didn't have any side affects and hopefully they said no long term side affects either.  I'm doing everything like a normal kid now," says Prochotsky.

"To see a young man like Josh play an American Legion baseball game 15 months after being diagnosed, that's really for me why I do this," says Keole.

It's estimated that 250,000 patients a year could benefit from proton therapy, but only a fraction of treatment slots have been available.  There has been a push to create more proton therapy centers and the Oklahoma City location is the first in a network of centers under development to open.

Prochotsky says it's nice to see more centers open so that more people can receive treatment and move on with life like he has.

"I got one more year of high school, going to college next and then-- be normal."

The ProCure Proton Therapy Center is affiliated with Integris Health.  Integris will open the Cancer Institute of Oklahoma adjacent to the new proton center to give treatment to patients who need additional care.