UW Health has officially begun offering proton therapy at its Eastpark Medical Center.
The new treatment gives patients with cancer access to a highly precise form of radiation therapy designed to target tumors while limiting radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue.
This milestone is meaningful to patients and team members alike at UW Health, according to Dr. Zachary Morris, professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and radiation oncologist at the UW Health Carbone Cancer Center.
“We are so excited to see this day arrive and to be able to offer proton therapy for the patients who need it,” Morris said in a press release. “This achievement is a culmination of tremendous planning and teamwork that has enabled us to bring forward one of the most precise forms of cancer therapy and a proton therapy center that is among the most technologically advanced anywhere.”
Proton therapy uses charged particles to deliver radiation directly to a tumor, while minimizing radiation to nearby normal tissues and thereby reducing long-term toxicities, according to Dr. Ben Durkee, radiation oncologist and medical director of the Proton Therapy Program at the Carbone Cancer Center, and associate professor of radiation medicine, UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
“This technology allows us to personalize radiation treatment with remarkable precision,” he said. “Less radiation to normal tissue can mean fewer side effects.”
The Proton Therapy Program at UW Health will begin by serving adult patients who are participating in a clinical trial.
