Proton therapy cancer treatment is generally referred to as a “local” procedure which targets localized area of the body. The therapy has been in existence for quite some time but they were first proposed for cancer treatment in 1946 by Robert Wilson. The Lawrence Berkley Laboratory confirmed Wilson’s assumption two years later on the basis of extensive laboratory research. The first use of proton therapy was made on patients with metastatic breast cancer and since 1950s; they have been in constant use.

 With the help of this therapy, the cancer cells are destroyed and prevented from resurgence. However, on the flip side, this cancer treatment also affects normal or non-cancerous cells. To allow the normal cells to heal from proton therapy, the treatment is imparted in small doses over a five to seven week period and the daily doses are given five days a week. Researches reveal that more than half of the total cancer patients need to undergo proton therapy at some point in their treatment. 

Proton therapy cancer treatment can be understood against systemic therapies like chemotherapy, which targets the whole body whereas proton therapy targets specific body areas. Internal proton therapy and external proton therapy are its two types. In external therapy, the radiation is directed from outside the body. In internal therapy or brachytherapy, a receptive radioactive source is placed inside the body, in proximity to the tumor. In other words, a ‘reservoir’ is implanted near the cancer cells and injected with liquid radioactive substance.

 Through internal therapy, there is little effect on normal cells and the cancer treatment is concentrated to a particular area only. The injected radioactive liquid substance contains phosphorus, radium, cesium and iodine. Patients undergoing internal or external proton therapy needs to be isolated from other people to prevent them from radioactive substance exposure. The proton therapy cancer treatment differs from normal radiation therapy because of its physical properties. In proton therapy, the proton beams contain large particles of positive charge matter and the beams penetrate only till a limited tissue depth and then deposits most of the energy at the beam end.