- The Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare has informed Rajya Sabha about the present status of Research on Proton Therapy in India.
- Proton therapy also called proton beam therapy is a type of radiation therapy.It uses protons rather than x-rays to treat cancer.
- A proton is a positively charged particle. At high energy,protons can destroy cancer cells.
- Like x-ray radiation, proton therapy is a type of external-beam radiation therapy.It painlessly delivers radiation through the skin from a machine outside the body.
- Doctors may use proton therapy alone.They may also combine it with x-ray radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and/or immunotherapy.
- With proton therapy, there is less radiation dose outside of the tumor.In regular radiation therapy,x-rays continue to give radiation doses as they leave the person’s body.This means that radiation damages nearby healthy tissues, possibly causing side effects.
Research on Proton Therapy
4 min read