Oncology

11 Dec 2019

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Proton Therapy: Surrounding Tissues Get Up To 60% Less Radiation & Have Minimum Side Effect Risks

We know how confusing it may be to look for a therapy that can help you kill cancer cells, especially when some doctors suggest traditional radio and/or chemo, while others recommend you to try one of the alternative methods.

As you‘ve already heard, radiotherapy is one of the traditional methods to fight tumours. It basically uses x-rays that affect the entire body rather than harmful individual cells.

Radiotherapy side effects: hair loss, fatigue, nausea and other symptoms signaling that your body was somehow poisoned.

Proton Therapy Is Painless, Takes 15-60 Minutes, Distinguishes Tissues From Cancer Tumors. Surrounding Tissues Get Up To 60% Less Radiation

Luckily, oncologists invented another method known as proton treatment. It can be also called radiological, but there is a number of significant differences when compared to radiotherapy:

  1. Proton beam consists of positively charged elementary particles from the nucleus of hydrogen atoms, called protons, rather than of x-ray.
  2. It focuses on cancer cells, avoiding healthy tissues around it. It has been proven that the surrounding tissues get up to 60% less radiation when a patient chooses proton therapy rather than radiotherapy.
  3. It doesn’t affect the entire body: even if you face certain side effects, they’ll be less tangible than the ones after the radio. 
  4. The beam’s speed is 50–75% of the speed of light destroying cancer cells up to 30 centimetres in depth.

There’re even more advantages of having proton therapy for cancer treatment:

  1. The therapy is painless and takes from 15 to 60 minutes to accomplish (duration depends on tumour location, number of treatments prescribed, how easily the tumour can be reached by the beam). Most of the time a special device called gantry delivers a beam to your body under different angles to make sure you’re getting the most of your therapy.
  2. If your oncologist decides so, it can be either used alone or combined with surgery, immunotherapy, radiation or chemo.

Proton therapy for cancer is based on radio, but without damaging effects on the whole body. It distinguishes tissues from cancer tumors.

Here Is the List of Cancers That Can Be Treated By Proton Therapy Based On Clinical Trials

Although proton therapy is often chosen by prostate cancer patients for its efficacy, years of clinical trials and successful cases have proved that proton therapy can help you get rid of:

  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Brain and neck tumours
  • Lung cancer
  • Salivary gland cancer
  • Lymphomas

If your diagnosis is on the list, get your free consultation: press the button below. Our manager will contact you as soon as possible within 24 hours.

Side Effects After Proton Therapy Are Not As Severe As After Radio And Last Up To 3 Days After Procedures

The extent to which you may have side effects depends on:

  • your age
  • the size of the tumour
  • its location
  • the dose of protons you’ve received
  • number and quality of healthy tissues around.

Side effects after proton therapy are not as severe as after radio, but they include:

  • headache
  • skin issues (redness, peeling, dryness)
  • weakness
  • digestion problems
  • hair loss on the treated part of your body

Side effects won’t last long, but make sure you’ve planned some rest for 2–3 days after the procedure.

Based On Clinical Trials, Proton Therapy Shows Higher Survival Rates & Reduces Risks Of Secondary Cancer

Since its invention scientists tried to measure this method’s effectiveness and found out the following:

  • 46 patients with benign skull meningiomas who were treated both with radio and proton therapy had 5 and 10-year recurrence-free rate of 100% and 88% accordingly.
  • 51 patients with base of skull meningiomas who were also treated by this combined therapy had a 4-year overall survival rate of 100%.

Treatment At Proton Center In Europe Costs 4 Times Cheaper Than In USA & There Are No Long Waiting Lists

More and more clinics beyound the USA is starting to offer proton therapy for cancer treatment but it’s not as common as radiotherapy because not all the clinics are specially equipped.

The Center in Czech Republic (Europe) is specially equipped and specializes in proton therapy for cancer treatment. It has 7 years of experience treating patients from 25 countries. The center has not one but four rooms for treatment of tumors of head and neck, brain and CNS, lymphomas, lungs, prostate, breast, pancreas and tumors in children.

Treatment coordinators take care of your journey with 24/7 emergency communication:

  • Meet you right at the airport to drive you directly to the clinic
  • Arrange daily consultations with proton therapy experts to get necessary quantity of proton treatment sessions
  • Help you arrange your stay or visit to the center
  • Assist with accommodation and nutrition
  • Arrange leisure: depending on your health conditions and preferences, medical staff from the clinic can arrange sightseeing tours and other activities so that you’ll get the most from your trip
  • Provide you with Czech mobile phone numbers with Internet connection to keep in touch with your relatives and friends
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You may be wondering how the procedure looks like. Here’s a short video for you to show the whole process:

In brief, you’ll be placed on the special table in the pose that gives the greatest access to the proton beam. It’s important to lay still and calm for the machine to target tumours, not healthy tissues. From 1 to 5 procedures can be assigned to you during your week stay in Prague.

Depending on your health condition and type of cancer, you’ll have to undergo sessions of proton therapy from one to eight weeks.

After your onsite therapy comes to an end, the follow-up program starts to maintain the treatment outcomes. The clinic’s oncologist will develop a treatment plan for you and finalize it with your local oncologist, who’ll help you afterwards. Moreover, the clinic will invite you for check-ups every 3 months to track your performance.

To Qualify for Treatment Faster, Provide These Four Medical Documents

The team of specialists in Prague prescribes proton therapy for cancer cases only for those patients who really have chances to benefit from it. To find out whether you’re eligible, please make two things:

  1. Find your diagnosis on the list above.
  2. Attach the following documents in .doc/.docx/.pdf./.jpg format:
  • recent blood tests
  • MRI scannings
  • Biopsy
  • CT

If you have any questions, ask them by pushing the button below. Usually, 2–3 business days are required for the team to evaluate your case and give you the answer regarding the therapy. If any additional documents will be needed, we’ll contact you immediately.

Please, make sure your contact information is written correctly so that we’ll be able to reach you.

Let’s find the solution together!