Proton beam therapy offers new lease of life to cancer patients, fewer side-effects: experts

India’s sole proton cancer centre, which has treated almost 900 patients in four years – most of them neurological cancers – is expanding its ambit to treat patients of mouth, gastro-intestine, breast, lung and prostate cancers, apart from soft tissues.

Proton beam therapy, which uses protons instead of X-rays to treat cancer, is a cutting-edge radiation technology with only select centres worldwide. The Apollo Hospitals group has set up South Asia’s first such centre in Chennai.

Though far costlier than traditional cancer therapy, the advantage of proton beam therapy is that it allows a more targeted treatment of cancerous tumours while causing remarkably fewer side-effects.

It is estimated that 50-70 percent of all cancer patients may need radiation therapy sometime during the course of treatment.

Advantage over traditional therapy

Experts from Apollo Proton Cancer Centre stressed that the main benefit is that protons deposit radiation dose directly in the tumour without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue and organs. It has been shown to have excellent local control of tumours located in areas such as the base of the skull, which are difficult to treat.

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Breakthroughs in this technology, including pencil beam scanning and highly precise image guidance, have led to the adoption of this technology worldwide, specialists said.

According to Sapna Nangia, senior consultant, radiation oncology with APCC, the centre employs the latest technology in pencil beam scanning, which allows for a spot-by-spot and layer-by-layer delivery of proton beams to the tumour site while minimising exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.

India’s cancer crisis

In India, there were an estimated 1.46 million cancer cases in 2022. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research's National Cancer Registry Program report released in 2020, new cancer cases in the national capital were estimated at 35,422 in 2020.

The report said the incidence of cancer in New Delhi was 110.3 per 100,000 population and the most common types included breast cancer, cervical cancer, oral cavity cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.

According to the International Association of Cancer Registries, over 24,000 people die each year because of brain tumours.

So far, the APCC has treated over 300 cases of brain tumours, 24 of which were from New Delhi.