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IN THE PAST 50 years, improvements in photon (X-ray) based radiotherapy technology have made tumor treatments more accurate and enabled the delivery of higher and more e…ective radiation doses. Equally if not more important have been the ongoing e…orts to decrease radiation exposure to healthy organs and tissues. Proton therapy, the next generation of radiotherapy, targets tumors with the maximum radiation dose while reduc- ing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. This advanced therapy, which is proving very beneficial in the treatment of many cancers — especially in children and young adults, is currently available only at a small number of cancer centers across the country. University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland, with the open i n g of it s new P roton T herapy Center in Ju ly 2016 at U H Seidma n Cancer Center, is now a member of this elite group. The Proton Therapy Center at UH is Ohio's first and only proton therapy center and one of the world's first "compact" cen- ters featuring the Mevion S250 system. This unique single-room system, requir- ing only a 40-foot by 40-foot by 40-foot space, is significantly smaller than tradi- tional proton therapy systems, which are the size of a football field. Yet it is equal in power. Housed in an 11,000-square-foot facility, UH's Proton Therapy Center is located on the same campus as UH Seidman Cancer Center and just 100 feet from the Angie Fowler Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Institute at UH Rainbow Babies' & Children's Hospital. "Our proton facility is centrally placed among the 17 Seidman Cancer Center sites across northern Ohio. In addition, within the la rge ca mpus of UH Case Medica l Center at University Circle, the proton facility is convenient to both adult and pediatric patients and to cancer physicians from a ll disciplines," says Natha n Levita n, MD, President, UH Seidman Cancer Center. "This provides our cancer patients with easy access to multidisciplinary care." PHOTOS © SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON, OHIO Leaders from the University Hospitals Proton Therapy Center include (L-R) David Mansur, MD, Division Chief, Radiation Oncology, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital; Mitchell Machtay, MD, Chairman, Department of Radiation Oncology, UH Case Medical Center; John Letterio, MD, Division Chief, Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital; and Duncan Stearns, MD, Director, Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. University Hospitals Fights Cancer with the Power of Protons BY JO DONOFRIO 0 6 0 6C O V E R S T O R Y