What are Proton beam therapy centers?

Proton beam therapy centers are medical facilities that use proton therapy to treat various forms of cancer. Variations of radiation therapy, proton beam therapy provides a more focusing beam of radiation, which is also stronger. Since 1990, proton beam therapy centers have provided alternative treatment to cancer patients whose tumors have not responded to traditional radiation treatment or chemotherapy. The medical community must still determine whether proton therapy is more advantageous in other treatments.

Radiation therapy has existed since the mid -50s. Proton beam therapy has been invented in the same decade, but only in 1990 was the first proton beam therapy centers open to treat a large number of patients. There are approximately 40 centers worldwide. Proton beam therapy differs from traditional radiation therapy in that it can concentrate the radiation beam on a much smaller goal and at the same time release much more radiation into tumor.

CenterProton beam therapy is designed to treat certain cancers, if it could be damaged by the surrounding, healthy tissue would disrupt the quality of life. For example, although the use of traditional radiation treatment can cure prostate cancer, treatment can seriously disrupt sexual function. Another example is eye cancer; The radiation of absorbed healthy tissue can disrupt vision.

These and other cancer also respond less to radiation therapy due to the relatively low level of radiation that the machine creates. The proton beam therapy is much higher; Some doctors believe that this increase in force has a beneficial impact on the patient's treatment. Because the less of the patient's healthy tissue is affected by radiation, as a result, the negative side that is associated with radiation therapy is reduced. Most patients can maintain high quality of life during proton beam therapy.

although the centers of therapy thereforeThe new beam provides another possibility of treatment for patients with cancer, treatment has two disadvantages. The first is money. The average cost of construction and centers and is $ 150,000,000 in the US (USD); These launch costs reduce the number of centers and make treatment extremely expensive. The second disadvantage of proton beam therapy is a continuing issue in the medical community regarding its increased efficiency compared to other forms of radiation therapy. Some argue that although proton beam therapy has shown some positive results, medical science has not yet determined the best way to apply it to different cancer/tumors.