America is about to get a powerful tool in the war against cancer

[Steveo3312]

cnbc.com/2020/01/17/america...

[NPfisherman]

Thank you for posting this information...This is great news....The fact that carbon ion radiation can hit targets with decreased risk to surrounding normal tissue seems to indicate that some tumors in difficult to reach areas could now be treated when previously they could not be treated...This radiation sounds more effective...great news, steveo...

Fish

[cesanon]

"What has flourished instead is a related approach called proton therapy, which also uses charged particles and has some of the same benefits. Today 31 U.S. proton centers offer treatment for cancers in areas where radiation damage to surrounding normal tissue could be dangerous or even deadly, such as tumors at the base of the skull or tumors in young children."

"Carbon ion therapy is similarly precise, but because carbon ions are heavier and 12 times the size, they deliver more cancer-killing power than protons do, many experts say. Carbon centers have reported impressive survival rates, particularly for hard-to-treat bone and soft-tissue cancers such as spinal tumors.

The therapy involves accelerating carbon ions to near the speed of light, then “painting” a tumor with the radiation beam. Accelerated particles deliver their energy in a sort of delayed burst called a Bragg peak, so that very little damage occurs to normal tissue as the beam enters the body in a thin stream at a high velocity, and the killing power is concentrated on the tumor, where the particle track stops. (Traditional radiation damages tissue as the beam enters and exits the body, although radiologists use techniques to minimize the damage.)

The next step is to do the clinical studies to see where carb"

Perhaps not so useful once the cancer has gone systemic.