What is Proton Therapy?

Remarkable Precision. Fewer Treatment-related Complications.

These are the defining features of proton therapy, an advanced form of radiation treatment that targets and destroys cancer tumors while reducing the risks of harmful side-effects. For patients with complex tumors, patients with tumors that come back after prior treatment, and children with cancer, proton therapy is an ideal and uniquely effective alternative to traditional radiation.

The Most Precise Proton Therapy

Patients at the New York Proton Center receive pencil beam scanning, the most highly sophisticated and precise type of proton therapy.

As the name implies, pencil beam scanning uses an extremely narrow beam to “dot” the protons onto the tumor. The process is repeated, layer by layer, like paint applied by the tip of an incredibly fine brush.

Not All Proton Therapy is Created Equal

Many proton centers use “volumetric” beams that deliver a fixed quantity of energy to the entire tumor. But the pencil beam scanning at the New York Proton Center delivers “intensity-modulated proton therapy,” or IMPT.

Widely considered the most advanced form of proton therapy, IMPT can target different parts of the tumor with different radiation dose levels to most precisely and effectively treat the tumor. That’s particularly valuable when treating the most complicated tumors, such as those residing in the brain or spine, head and neck, lungs and chest, abdomen, and pelvis.

Highly Effective and Precise

Because it’s so precise, pencil beam scanning proton therapy is highly effective at treating the most challenging tumors:

• Irregularly shaped
• Wrapped around other structures
• Close to vital tissues in the brain, spine, head and neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis
• Recurring following prior treatment