SAN DIEGO -- The University of California, San Diego is working to develop a $125 million proton- and particle-therapy cancer treatment center, university officials announced Wednesday.

Proton and particle therapy, now available at only a few clinics nationwide, enables doctors to better target and destroy cancerous tumors, according to UCSD. Traditional radiation therapy, which is not as precise, sometimes damages or destroys healthy tissue surrounding tumors.

Faculty members at UCSD's Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center are developing models for a proton cancer treatment and research center.

"I am thrilled that we have taken the first steps toward building a proton treatment center here at UC San Diego," said Dr. Arno J. Mundt, professor and chair of the UCSD Department of Radiation Oncology.

"Protons and other particles are important tools in the treatment of cancer, and the development of such a center would place UCSD alongside other major cancer centers that have built proton centers, including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital," he said.

According to UCSD, proton therapy is especially useful in treating cancers of the eye, brain, head, neck, lung and prostate.

The proposed center, which would cost about $125 million, likely would be built next to UCSD Medical Center-La Jolla and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.

UCSD officials said they hope to develop and submit initial plans for the project to the Regents of the University of California for preliminary consideration over the next several months.

To build the treatment center -- envisioned as a facility capable of treating 1,500 people per year -- the university would seek a private-sector partner.