Above: I have pictured the cancer DNA being damaged by protons.

Technological advances in proton therapy have led to its ability to treat 80% of all cancers. To be effective, proton therapy requires a specific target. So systemic cancers, such as leukemia, would not qualify. The benefits of proton therapy pertain to all cancer types. Foremost, is its accuracy and conformal capability, allowing it to treat cancers very close to important organs that excess radiation would damage.

Proton therapy is strongly established as the appropriate modality for pediatric cancers in the brain, for example. Radiation can cause long-term problems for young, growing bodies. Accuracy is of the utmost importance. Dr. Anita Mahajan, medical director at MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center in Houston treated a teenage girl with a skull base chordoma. She says this. “The location of her tumor, nestled between the brain stem and spinal cord, was a deciding factor in using IMPT.” (IMPT stands for Intensity Modified Proton Therapy, an advanced form of pencil beam scanning.)

Another advantage of proton therapy is the fact that the protons release their energy in the target and then stop (see: PHYSICS). Historically, for example, radiation for breast cancer has accepted damage to the lungs and heart as part of the cost of stopping the cancer. Because they stop dead (pun intended) protons can hit the tumor and spare the surrounding organs. This is true for all treatable cancers.

Proton therapy can handle multiple targets. Because pencil beam scanning “paints” the target in layers and rows of overlapping dots, it can be very specific. The example I like to give is that of a jar filled with red and white marbles. 

Above: X-rays, shown on the left, would affect far more healthy tissue than protons, shown on the right. This example is for prostate cancer, but this is true for all cancers. The term “conformal” relates to precision in matching the shape and location of the tumor. Because protons are applied in a series of layers and rows, they are truly three-dimensional, matching the contour of the target. X-rays seek conformity by coming from many directions.

In my book, Proton Therapy Destroys Cancer (see: BOOKS), I include details about the following cancers (not an exhaustive list) briefly summarized here: 


Base of skull


Brain tumors
The Oklahoma Proton Therapy Center lists these as among the brain tumors best suited for proton therapy.
   Low-grade glioma Recurrent glioma
   Meningioma
   Pituitary adenoma
   Craniopharyngioma


I gave a talk about proton therapy attended by a friend who had developed brain cancer. He went to MD Anderson in Houston, where he received treatment with X-rays that damaged his brain and left him with serious cognitive impairment. They have a proton therapy center at MD Anderson, which could have avoided that result. He asked me after the talk why they hadn’t treated his brain cancer with protons. My guess is that his family doctor didn’t know about proton therapy and referred him to a radiologist who specialized in X-rays. He wanted the business, treated my friend, and never mentioned protons. Cynical? Unethical? It happens all the time. That’s why cancer patients must be proactive.


Breast Cancer
This three-minute video tells the story of one woman with breast cancer who chose proton therapy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF4wCECEnYI.


My wife Ruth Hanna died of breast cancer in 2007 after being tortured with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. There were only three proton therapy centers then. Despite my research, I never found them. Perhaps she could still have been alive today rather than dying at the age of 62. I dedicated my proton therapy book to her.


Esophageal cancer

One consideration in cancer treatment is the likelihood of secondary cancer, caused by the radiation from the original cancer. The MD Anderson Clinic in Houston calculated for esophageal cancer, X-rays have a whopping 96% additional cancer risk. I know someone treated twice for esophageal cancer, the first time with x-rays, which was horrible and debilitating with a long recovery time, and the second time with proton therapy, after which she could swallow easily and returned to work in a week.


Gastrointestinal cancer
The proton therapy center at MD Anderson in Houston lists these as the gastrointestinal cancers they treat with proton therapy:
   Anal cancer
   Bile duct cancer
   Esophageal cancer

   Gastric cancer
   Metastatic tumors

   Pancreatic cancer

   Primary liver cancer

   Rectal cancer

This doctor has a message for other doctors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQFWQCh10lk.


Head and Neck Cancers
A feeding tube is less frequently required with protons. Proton therapy better preserves neurocognitive function, vision, swallowing, hearing, taste and speech. This video from the Mayo Clinic (from 2014) shows survival rates are longer for proton therapy (and that was prior to many recent improvements): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WCtOW_KOxk. 


This patient with nasopharyngeal cancer tells about his experience with proton therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z79gzjTU7jk. He talks about how it preserved his teeth, jaw, taste buds, and vision. 


Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
This video show that proton therapy avoids the number one cause of death with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a second cancer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qeBgULz5rI.
Liver Cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) Basically, this podcast (audio) attributes to proton therapy a possibility of long-term survival that didn’t exist previously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ympWpzsRXWw.


Lungs: Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Here is the story of one man’s journey with lung cancer: 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ6ReDB4suM.


Optical Tumors (ocular melanoma)
Because of their accessibility, shallow depth and soft tissue, eyes require very little energy behind the protons. Therefore, the first proton therapy centers to open to the public used equipment that produced only low energy protons, suitable solely for optical purposes. According to this video, proton beam therapy is associated with the lowest overall risk of local tumor recurrence in uveal melanoma, compared with other eye-conserving forms of primary treatment. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27558251

Oropharynx cancer
Our results suggest that IMPT (protons) is associated with reduced rates of feeding tube dependency and severe weight loss without jeopardizing outcome. This conclusion comes from the article “Intensity modulated proton beam therapy (IMPT) versus Intensity modulated photon therapy (IMRT = X-rays) for oropharynx cancer patients—a case matched analysis.” Full article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5474304/


Pancreatic Cancer (Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas)
The proton therapy center in Seattle states these goals for treating this deadly cancer:
1. Target the tumor only
2. Protect your liver, stomach, kidneys, small intestine and spinal cord

3. Maintain your quality of life during pancreatic and bile duct cancer treatment
 4. 4. 4.Reduce side effects of treatment, including nausea, vomiting, heartburn, cramping, malabsorption (inability to absorb nutrients from food), diarrhea and dehydration

5. Lower the risk of secondary cancer caused by radiation


Pediatric Cancers
Here is a link to the celebrated story of Ashya King, whose parents abducted him from a British hospital and fled to Spain, where authorities arrested them for their efforts to see that he received proton therapy for his brain cancer. This is a classic case of fighting the establishment to get the best treatment for the ones you love. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5436163/Ashya-Kings-parents-reveal-incredible-recovery.html

In a similar situation, a couple from Belgium found their doctors advised against proton therapy, even though their own success rate was 10-15% and proton therapy was 90%. Want more? Here is an article from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023123051.htm 


Pelvic Chondrosarcoma (bone cancer)
Historically, this type of bone cancer has had frighteningly grim prognosis, with limbs being amputated and cancer returning. Just look at these articles: https://search.nih.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=nih&query=Chondrosarcoma+(CS)+is+a+primary+malignant+bone+tumor+with+cartilaginous+differentiation.+Poor+rates+of+survival+and+high+rates+of+local+recurrence+%20after+surgical+treatment+have+been+reported+in+previous+studies.&commit=Search

I got an email from David Bowles telling me his story. Here is a little of it:
I had a large hip bone tumor for which I had been offered, by EVERY doctor I talked to except one, a 15 hour surgery which might have left me in a wheelchair for life, with major side effects (deep infection, lymphedema, etc.) to boot. I am now cancer free and totally mobile, thanks to this incredible treatment (proton therapy). . . . My doctor believes that my recovery from a cancer which had always been treated surgically might just have shown the next generation of pelvic chondrosarcoma patients a completely new path for their treatment.

That is the promise of proton therapy and why I promote it so strongly. Bowles saw ten (10!) doctors all of whom recommended surgery (the traditional option) before finding proton therapy. What an extreme difference in outcome. 


Prostate Cancer
I cover this in a separate essay about my experience. See: EXPERIENCE. Researchers at the University of Florida report that 99 percent, 94 percent and 74 percent of men with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk prostate cancer, respectively, have no signs of cancer recurrence after five years of followup. Less than one percent in the cohort experienced serious gastrointestinal side effects and approximately three percent experienced serious urologic side effects. For this and similar articles see: https://www.floridaproton.org/about-us/research-portfolio) 

Above: A specific illustration of treating the lymph nodes.

Below: A chart pertaining to side effects of treatment. The numbers may vary from one study to another, but they are always in the same order. This one is from the proton therapy center in Prague. Surgery is the worst (on the left), photons (X-rays) are in the middle, and protons have the least effect (on the right). The three groups below illustrate impotence, incontinence, and relapse (recurrence).