After many experiments and a lot of research they have discovered the therapeutic properties of the photon beam on the human body, especially in the cancer cases. They use an external beam of photons and aim it very precisely on the tumour, making it shrink visibly from one treatment session to the next. The sessions last only for 16 minutes, so a lot less than normal treatment sessions for any kind of cancer.
The photons used in this photon beam treatment for cancer are very useful X-rays and gamma rays and their beneficial use for medicine has been known for quite some time now. They are used for diagnosing diseases and , in this case, for treating tumours until they shrink and luckily disappear. The external beam of photons is computer guided in order to obtain the best results.
Such devices as the Gamma knife or the Cyberknife are examples of medical equipment that use the photon beam for obtaining wonderful results in cancer treatment. As opposed to internal beam radiation treatment, the external beam is guided from the outside. The tumour is scanned and the tumour identified and the margins are clearly defined on the computer screen and that image is used to guide the photn beam onto the tumour in order to get the maximum effect with the minimum damage on the surrounding tissue.
This is considered revolutionary and that is why this kind of treatment is very expensive, even though it has been approved by the medical authorities. All the other types of treatment are aggressive because the intension is to kill the cancer cells, but the problem is that the healthy tissue is also damaged in the process and many times this causes a lot of damage that is not completely justified by the results obtained.
Besides, now doctors can also treat such tumours that are "moving", that do not stay still. The prostate tumours for example do not move very much during radiotherapybecause of its location, but a lung tumour will move considerably, causing the radiation beam to focus on healthy tissue and practically "burn" it, causing irreversible damage.
I consider thsi therapy as a huge step forward in developing new and more efficient ways of fighting against cancer and I am really confident that, even now only a few patients have access to it, in time this treatment will be available to more and more people and this will save lots of human lives.