Proton Beam Therapy Could Embrace More Patients, Queen’s University Study

Proton beam therapy could be made available to a wider group of patients with the help of research focused on accelerating ions with high-powered lasers. It would negate the need for the huge synchrotron and cyclotron set-ups currently used, which are expensive and not practical for most hospitals. Particle beam therapy, which uses protons or other ions, is a highly targeted modality of cancer treatment that can precisely irradiate tumours while preserving healthy tissue — especially valuable in brain tumours.