Particle therapy is a kind of advanced external-beam radiotherapy that involves the projection of beams of protons, neutrons, and other heavier ions at cancer cells. The highly charged particles facilitate radiation delivery to the tumor and completely stop beyond it, ensuring that healthy tissue remains unharmed.
Hence, with the increasing cancer case count and awareness on the benefits of this advanced form of radiation treatment, the sale of synchrotrons, cyclotrons, and synchrocyclotrons, which are used to accelerate the ions, for their emission at the target cancer cells, fetched medical device manufacturers a combined $797.1 million in 2021, which is all set to increase to $1,634.4 million by 2030.
Recent studies have established it as safe for children, who are, sadly, witnessing an increasing prevalence of malignancies. Moreover, on average 80% of the kids diagnosed with cancer survive at least five years past diagnosis. Proton therapy is highly beneficial in increasing the survival rate among pediatric cancer patients as it decreases the chances of cancer coming back due to radiation.
Proton therapy provides more protection to healthy tissues, unlike regular X-ray radiation. Therefore, it can be utilized for the treatment of children of all age groups, being highly beneficial for young children and infants.
Heavy-Ion Therapy
Just like all kinds of radiation, heavy-ion therapy can be delivered without any incision or pain, which is why it is widely prescribed to elderly patients. The charged heavy ions focus extreme energy at the cancer, minimizing the effects on normal tissues. Heavy-ion therapy is predicted to be effective against intractable cancers, can be utilized where conventional radiation is difficult, and is effective for the treatment of unresectable tumors.
Carbon-Ion Therapy
Carbon-ion therapy is also a form of particle therapy, but it cannot be easily accessed, due to its less-common availability; there are only 13 centers in the world that provide it. Carbon ions deliver more energy to the tumor and less to the nearby tissues. This treatment is not meant for children with tumors who are responding to proton therapy or conventional therapy effectively.
Therefore, the rising prevalence of cancer increases the demand for particle therapy due to the minimum damage caused by it to healthy and growing tissues near the tumor.
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