Archives: What is PT ?

RSS

Today is World Cancer Day. Let us debunk the myths about Proton Therapy!

Today is World Cancer Day. Let us debunk the myths about Proton Therapy!
Today is World Cancer Day (http://www.worldcancerday.org/ ). World Cancer Day is a chance to raise our collective voices in the name of improving general knowledge around cancer and dismissing misconceptions about the disease. This year’s edition has been placed under the tagline “Debunk the myths”. Let us do our share of the work and debunk 3 of the numerous myths about Proton Therapy.  #1: Proton therapy is not a good option for children with cancer The Pediatric Proton Foundation and the National Association for Proton Therapy published in October 2013, the results of a survey on the use of proton therapy to treat pediatric cancer cases in the USA. They reported that the number of kids treated with proton therapy increased by 33% between 2010 and 2012, reaching 694... Full article

WEB REVIEW – What is breast cancer ?

Breast cancer ribbon
Breast cancer is a kind of cancer originating from breast cells. It usually starts off in the inner lining of milk ducts (ductal carcinoma) or the lobules that supply them with milk (lobular carcinoma). As a malignant type of tumor, breast cancer is able to invade other parts of the body. Incidence: Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females worldwide. It accounts for 16% of all female cancers and... Full article

From our readers: Proton beam therapy: an alternative to now consider in Africa

There are certain cancer cases where surgery, chemotherapy and conventional photon radiotherapy are inappropriate treatment alternatives. In such cases, Proton Beam Therapy could just be the perfect option. Proton beam therapy is a form of particle therapy which utilizes a beam of protons to irradiate cancerous tissues and possibly terminate abnormal proliferation of neoplasms while ensuring that the surrounding healthy tissues are not completely destroyed. In other words, it is a type of external beam radiotherapy which uses a particle accelerator to target the tumour with a beam of... Full article

Improving dose delivery and treatment efficiency with PBS

2007_PBS
Proton beams constitute a very desirable form of radiotherapy; physicians and physicists worldwide are researching and testing ways to make this cancer treatment even more efficient and effective. One of the delivery mechanisms under active development at many proton therapy centers is Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS), a treatment mode that allows for precise movement and flexible dose delivery of a small proton pencil beam.... Full article

Pencil Beam Scanning to be primary proton delivery tool

PBS testing
Offering exceptional advantages in precision, dose conformity and patient throughput, Pencil Beam Scanning is poised to be the go-to proton delivery method at new proton therapy centers worldwide. At 3 millimeters, about the diameter of a smart phone audio plug, the beam spot from Pencil Beam Scanning “is very high quality — meaning, at high energy, it’s very small in size and maintains good quality throughout the... Full article

Quality assurance helps advance standardized procedures

DSCN7278_FIN
Greater refinement of quality assurance (QA) procedures across proton therapy centers today will help ensure they remain valuable to future centers, putting them steps ahead of the game. There are two types of quality assurance: system and patient-specific. “System quality assurance refers to the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly QA assessments we use to test each gantry and the overall machinery associated with... Full article