There are three main methods of treating cancer: surgery, drugs, and radiation therapy, and radiation therapy uses the difference in repair rates between normal cells and cancer cells to destroy cancer cells. Proton therapy, which minimizes the impact on normal cells and targets cancer cells more precisely than radiation therapy, has been attracting attention as the most effective and safe treatment. However, it has the disadvantage of being very expensive in terms of equipment installation and treatment costs.
Currently, there are three main ways to treat cancer. These are surgery, medication, and radiation therapy. Surgery involves doctors physically removing cancer cells by making an incision in the treated area, while chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy is the least risky and most effective of the three, as it uses radiation directly to kill cancer cells. In particular, radiation therapy is effective in many cases because it capitalizes on the differences in the repair rates of normal and cancerous cells.
When radiation is applied to the body, chemical changes occur within the cells that damage substances that are essential for cell proliferation and survival. This damage causes the cell to lose its physiological function, which is where an important difference between normal cells and cancer cells arises. While normal cells are able to repair themselves over time, cancer cells are less able to do so and cannot fully recover. Because of this difference, radiation therapy can selectively destroy only cancer cells. Radiation therapy works by irradiating normal cells again after they have sufficiently recovered, and the process is repeated to kill cancer cells. However, since normal cells do not recover 100%, it is important to try to reduce the impact of the treatment on normal cells as much as possible.
Proton therapy was developed as part of this effort. Proton therapy is considered to be more precise and effective than radiation therapy, while minimizing the damage to normal cells. Proton therapy has been called the “cure of dreams” and is now one of the most advanced cancer treatments available.
Proton therapy literally uses protons to kill cancer cells. The protons used are isolated through a machine called a cyclotron. A cyclotron is a type of proton accelerator that uses a powerful magnetic field to accelerate protons to high speeds. During this acceleration process, protons are accelerated to 60% of the speed of light, which is fast enough to travel 4.5 times around the Earth in one second. These highly energized protons are then used to hit cancer cells, allowing for highly precise treatment.
One of the biggest advantages of protons is a property called Bragg Peak. Protons emit very little energy until just before they stop in matter, and when they do, they release most of their energy in a concentrated manner. The energy released at this point is focused on the cancer cells, effectively destroying them. In other words, the proton releases only 20% of its energy before it reaches the cancer cells, and the remaining 80% of its energy is released at the Bragg peak. This allows them to precisely hit the cancer cells while doing little damage to the surrounding normal cells.
Protons are also painless to the patient during the treatment process, which is a huge advantage. The patient doesn’t feel anything during the treatment, and the duration of a single treatment is relatively short, around 30 minutes. In this respect, it’s considered a very positive treatment for patients suffering from cancer. Furthermore, thanks to the physical properties of protons, it”s possible to adjust the depth of the Bragg peak to precisely target cancer cells located inside the body, making it even more efficient.
However, proton therapy does have its drawbacks. First of all, the equipment required for proton therapy is very large and complex, so the initial setup costs are prohibitive. It takes two to three years to install the equipment alone, which can cost upwards of $50 million, making the treatment very expensive for many patients at this time. As technology improves, installation costs decrease and more hospitals are able to afford the equipment, proton therapy could become a safe and effective treatment for more patients.
Proton therapy is still not a perfect cancer treatment, and there is still no definitive solution to completely eliminate cancer, but for now, it is considered one of the safest and most effective options for patients suffering from cancer, and technological advances will likely lead to even better treatments in the future. In the end, the most important thing in cancer treatment is to find a way to eliminate cancer cells as quickly and effectively as possible while maintaining the patient’s quality of life. Proton therapy will play an important role in this process, and is likely to become an important pillar of future cancer treatment.
