For many cancer patients, proton beam radiation therapy is a big advance over traditional radiation therapy. It is more targeted, exposes less area to radiation and causes fewer side-effects.

The problem is, proton beam therapy is not available in Canada, which creates major barriers to care.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Derek Tsang of University of Toronto writes about the advantages of proton therapy, and the impact of not having a facility for it in Canada. Canadian patients have to travel out of the country to get treatment because Canada is the only G7 country without a proton therapy facility.

“Canadian guidelines suggest many other cancers would benefit from proton therapy, including some types of brain, head-and-neck and soft-tissue tumours,” he writes. “The benefits of proton therapy are especially important for children, teenagers and young adults with cancer, as they can live a long time when cured of their cancer.”

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