There are several traditional ways to treat cancer:

• Surgery – cut out the cancer
• Chemotherapy – poison the cancer cells
• Radiation – kill the cancer cells with radiation (see Cyberknife, but also done with radioactive seeds and other techniques)
• X-ray therapy
• And so on…

Proton therapy is a new way to treat cancer, and it appears to be a success:

Proton therapy is fulfilling its promise

Proton therapy represents the most advanced form of radiation treatment available in the world. Some scientists refer to proton therapy as the “holy grail” of all radiotherapies because of the proton beam’s ability to precisely target tumors and spare radiation effects on surrounding healthy tissue.

Doctors know that proton therapy offers more effective radiation treatment than conventional X-ray radiotherapy and is the preferred option for certain types of cancer. The benefits in treating cancers near critical structures such as the eye, brain, lung and prostate, and the value of protons in treating cancer in children, are undeniable.

Proton therapy is particularly effective for smaller, localized tumors, especially when the tumor is near something important, as described in this video:

He describes protons as acting like a firecracker, avoiding damage to tissue surrounding the tumor. The reason is that the protons do damage when they come to rest. So if they come to rest inside the tumor, the tumor is what gets damaged by the protons. The depth that the protons penetrate can be controlled by their speed. Compared to x-ray therapy there is no “exit dose”, as seen here:

Behind the scenes, there is a particle accelerator that accelerates the protons to the right speed. These accelerators are shrinking as demonstrated here, but they are still massive. This video explains one of the first proton therapy systems:

One problem with proton therapy is the cost of all this machinery. The following video points out the the proton therapy facility in Virginia cost $270 million:

What does the cost work out to? Assume the facility treats 4 patients per hour, 10 hours per day, 250 days per year and does that over 20 years before becoming obsolete. That’s 200,000 treatments for $270 million, or $1,370 per treatment. Now add the cost of doctors and nurses, administrators, interest on loans, profit, etc. Let’s say those incidentals push the cost up to $2,000 per treatment. The first video above points out that prostate cancer treatment requires 40 visits. That’s $80,000. Let’s hope the price falls rapidly, because it sounds like a much better way to treat certain types of cancer.

Another problem (perhaps discomfort is a better word) is the need for complete immobilization of the tumor, as seen in this video:

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