What is Proton Therapy
How Proton Therapy Is Done
In traditional radiation therapy, photon rays pass through the determined area in the body and irradiate the cancerous tissue. In photon therapy, the exposure of healthy tissues in front of and behind the cancerous tumor to radiation causes side effects such as nausea, fatigue, and vomiting.
The difference between proton therapy and photon beam therapy is that they emit the maximum energy of the protons at the peak of the curve, which is called the 'Bragg peak' within the borders of the irradiation zone, which is within the borders of the cancerous tissue. The radiation accumulated in the tissue in each session destroys the DNA of the pathological tissues and thus the tissue affected by the disease. It is a treatment with radiation, like an injection made by the doctor into a painful area. While the area in front of the cancerous tissue is exposed to the lowest radiation, the tissues behind the targeted cancerous formation are exposed to radiation close to 0. As a result, the side effects that can be seen in the treatment of cancerous tissue are considerably reduced.