Being diagnosed with cancer can be a life altering moment in a person’s life. It can be difficult to know what steps to take and what treatments to pursue. While it is important to seek treatment, many patients are looking into non-invasive cancer treatment. Proton therapy for cancer is a non-invasive cancer treatment that is showing promising results in tumor reduction. It’s ideal for treating a number of different types of cancer, from treating prostate cancer to treatment for breast cancer.

Proton therapy is a non-invasive cancer treatment because of the way it targets cancer sells. It’s a type of radiation treatment that targets a very specific point of tissue and is able to avoid tissues that are unaffected by cancer cells. For example, proton treatment for breast cancer has been shown to reduce the amount of radiation that is sent to the lungs and the heart by up to 50% at least. It is also hugely effective for a number of different types of cancer. Take prostate cancer for example. Even for high risk cases of prostate cancer, prostate cancer patients who undergo proton therapy are found to have over a 70% chance of remission after five years. For prostate cancer patients who are considered low risk, that number is over 95%. Proton therapy is particularly a viable treatment of prostate cancer because it has a considerably lowered risk of negative side effects. Because of it’s ability to target only the affected tissues, patients who undergo proton therapy have a greatly reduced risk of impotence after treatment. In fact, over 90% of men who have undergone proton treatment for prostate cancer have been able to maintain a healthy sex life after their treatment was complete, something that is much less common for those who undergo traditional radiation treatments.

Proton therapy is not just so popular because of its lessened risk of negative consequences – though those reduced risks are significant (aside from avoiding sending radiation to the heart and the lungs, proton therapy can reduce the radiation send to the gastrointestinal system by nearly 60%). Proton therapy is also time effective, allowing people to spend as little time actively in treatment as possible. One session only takes up to around forty five minutes and can be as short as fifteen minutes.

Because of these reasons, proton therapy is becoming widespread around the United States. By 2015, there where more than 30 particle centers around the country as well as a total of around 80 treatment rooms under construction around the world. Proton therapy provides a viable option for those who do not want to suffer the side effects of traditional radiation and is proving to be effective at treating and eliminating cancer, specifically for cancers like prostate cancer. It’s a non-invasive cancer treatment that allows people to seek treatment and get better as they continue to live their lives.