York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health is teaming up with the University of Maryland in College Park to treat cancer patients using proton therapy technology available at the university, according to The Central Penn Business Journal.
Under the terms of the agreement, WellSpan physicians will serve as adjunct professors at the university and gain access to the technology at the Maryland Proton Treatment Center in Baltimore. Physicians will also collaborate with university faculty on radiation research.
The treatment center specializes in proton therapy, an image-guided therapy used to treat cancer. Officials claim the radiation used in proton therapy better targets tumors, reducing an individual's exposure to radiation and thereby reducing damage to critical organs and the surrounding healthy tissue, according to the article.
"WellSpan Health is very excited to be one of the first collaborative partners with the new Maryland Proton Treatment Center," said Douglas Arbittier, MD, vice president of the oncology service line at WellSpan Health.