Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Radiation therapy is an asset in the treatment of cancer patients and one of the major challenges is to enhance the quality of life of the patients and bringing them back to his/her routine life at the earliest.
Talking about advancements in cancer treatment, Dr Sapna Nangia, senior consultant-radiation oncology, Apollo Proton Cancer Centre said that various advancements are taking place in the treatment of patients increasing cure chances but proton beam therapy is the future of modern radiation therapy as it provides the highest degree of precision and efficacy in cancer treatment.
“Proton therapy is an upbeat in the treatment of patients as we have come a long way in last 10-15 years. Proton therapy helps in curing or controlling many cancers along with minimizing both immediate and long-term side effects of treatment. It improves patients’ chances of survival but also enhances their quality-of-life post-treatment,’ Dr Nangia told Free Press during her visit to the city, in Thursday.
There is only one pencil beam proton therapy set-up in India at Apollo Proton Cancer Centre in Chennai. The pencil beam scanning allows targeting the affected cells precisely while minimizing exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
“The therapy is advantageous for tumours located in sensitive areas such as the base of the skull or lung, oral cancers, gastro-intestinal cancers, breast cancer, lung cancer, and in paediatric cancers, where traditional radiation therapy may cause significant damage to healthy tissue,” Dr Nangia said.
She also appreciated the increasing awareness and accessibility to cancer facilities even in small towns along with sharing that the life expectancy of cancer patients is increased by median of five years. The radiation-oncology expert also revealed about the advanced researches in cancer treatment including FLASH radiation therapy involving the delivery of ultra-high dose rate radiation to the target.
