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The Proton Therapy Revolution: Why This Cancer Treatment Saves Lives
In the field of cancer treatment, traditional transmission radiation therapy has long dominated the treatment world. However, with the advancement of science and technology, proton therapy is gradually emerging as a breakthrough option. Proton therapy uses beams of charged protons to precisely target tumors and attack cancer cells with little damage to surrounding healthy tissue. This technology is not only technically innovative, but also significantly reduces the side effects patients experience during treatment. This is why proton therapy is hailed as a revolution in cancer treatment.
The main advantage of proton therapy is its energy concentration and depth control, which allows doctors to deliver higher radiation doses to cancer cells while protecting normal tissue.
Basic principles of proton therapy
Proton therapy is a form of external radiation therapy that uses proton beams to treat diseased tissue. Medical staff use particle accelerators to generate proton beams. These charged particles can effectively damage the DNA of cancer cells, thereby stopping their reproduction and leading to tumor regression. Because cancer cells are constantly dividing, they are particularly vulnerable to DNA attacks, making proton therapy uniquely advantageous in this regard.
While utilizing proton energy, doctors are able to precisely focus the radiation dose on the tumor, reducing the radiation dose to surrounding normal tissue by up to 50% to 60%.
Proton therapy equipment and technology
Currently, the vast majority of proton therapy systems use isochronic cyclotrons, which are more reliable and easier to operate than traditional particle accelerators. With the advancement of technology, the number of proton therapy platforms is gradually growing around the world, and more and more hospitals are beginning to be equipped with such advanced treatment equipment. An alternative form of proton therapy, FLASH therapy, is under development that uses extremely high dose rates to deliver treatments, potentially significantly shortening treatment times while reducing side effects.
According to the latest data, approximately 200,000 patients had received proton therapy by the end of 2019, showing its increasing popularity.
Applications of proton therapy
Proton therapy can treat a variety of cancers, especially those that are sensitive to higher doses of radiation, such as eye tumors, skull base tumors, and certain pediatric tumors. In childhood cancer treatment, traditional treatment methods often leave irreparable long-term side effects, while proton therapy can reduce damage to surrounding normal tissue and effectively reduce the risk of these side effects.
Ocular tumors and proton therapy
Proton therapy is known as the "gold standard" for ocular tumor treatment. For tumors located near the eye, proton therapy offers the possibility of sparing sensitive tissue and is significantly more effective than other radiation therapies.
Effectiveness of proton therapy for skull base tumors
Proton therapy has also shown positive clinical results for patients with skull base tumors. The inability of protons to penetrate the outside of the tumor leaves surrounding healthy tissue virtually unaffected, thereby reducing the risk of side effects after treatment.
Prostate cancer and proton therapy
While the effectiveness of proton therapy for prostate cancer patients is still debated, some studies point to improved protection of surrounding tissue, particularly damage to the rectum and urinary system, compared with traditional radiation therapy.
The future of proton therapy
With the advancement of medical technology and the accumulation of clinical data, the application prospects of proton therapy are becoming increasingly broad. Proton therapy offers new hope, both for new cancer types and for patients who have received radiation therapy in the past. Facing more and more patients, how to popularize proton therapy and reduce its high treatment cost will be a major challenge in the future.
Proton therapy is undoubtedly a revolution. However, what new challenges and opportunities will the widespread application of this technology bring?
