CLEVELAND, May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — University Hospitals
Seidman Cancer Center announced plans to establish a $30 million
proton therapy center, becoming one of an elite group of cancer
centers in the country to offer this revolutionary technology.
Proton therapy is an advanced type of radiation treatment that
uses a powerful beam of protons to precisely target and match
treatment to the shape of a tumor with incredible accuracy.
Traditional radiation therapy uses photon beams, which are highly
effective for a broad variety of tumors and cancers. However, in
some cases, proton beam radiation therapy offers enhanced abilities
to deliver higher and more conformal radiation doses, while
selectively sparing healthy tissue in the body. In addition,
the use of protons is extremely valuable for the treatment of some
cancers in children and young adults, who seem to be more prone to
short and long-term complications from radiation.
There are only nine proton therapy centers in the nation and the
UH Seidman Cancer Center site will be the first confirmed in
Ohio.
“There are many benefits to the delivery of radiation treatment
with protons rather than photons for several types of cancer, and
we believe that this represents the next important advancement in
radiation therapy. We are very excited to bring this leading edge
technology to Ohio,” says Nathan Levitan, MD, President, UH Seidman
Cancer Center. “We have made this $30 million investment in keeping
with our commitment to bring the most advanced cancer-fighting
treatments and technology to our community and to the country as a
national leader in cancer care.”
UH has signed an agreement with Still River Systems to purchase
the Monarch 250 Proton Therapy System, the next generation proton
therapy technology. While the first generation of proton beam
systems require massive equipment and cost up to $150 million to
implement, scientific breakthroughs by Still River Systems,
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