Context: Currently, there are no government facilities that offer proton beam therapy treatment in India. The treatment is considered a viable alternative to radiation for treating solid tumours, especially for head and neck cancers.

• Cancer patients in India face twin challenges when it comes to accessing proton beam therapy (PBT): insufficient number of facilities offering the treatment and cost running into many lakhs of rupees.

Proton Beam Therapy(PBT)

• Proton beam therapy (PBT) is a form of radiotherapy used to treat certain cancers. It uses high-energy beams of protons, rather than X-rays, to deliver a dose of radiotherapy.

• The PBT is considered a viable alternative to radiation for treating solid tumors, especially head and neck cancers.

Benefits of Proton Therapy

• The key benefit of proton therapy is the ability to target tumor cells, more precisely. Research shows that proton therapy results in a higher dose of radiation to the tumor, but significantly less radiation to healthy cells near the tumor. 

• With less healthy tissue affected by the radiation, side effects may be milder, and there is less risk of developing secondary cancers due to radiation.

Challenges in accessing PBT Therapy in India

Not enough facilities offering PBT Treatment: Currently, there are 42 PBT machine installations in the U.S. followed by Europe (35), Japan (26), China (seven), Taiwan (three), and South Korea (two) while India has only one.

• Apollo Hospital is the only center in the whole of South and West Asia offering the PBT.

Huge cost to set up: Setting up a PBT center is fraught with infrastructural and regulatory challenges stemming from safety concerns from the Department of Atomic Energy. 

• A PBT machine is a huge contraption, up to three storeys tall, and costs nearly Rs 500 crores.

Costly treatment: Apollo Hospital has been able to reduce the cost of PBT from nearly Rs 1.2 crores (as charged in the U.S.) to between Rs 5 lahks and Rs 30 lahks. But it is still running into many lakhs of rupees.

• Note: ??The PBT unit in the AIIMS was also planned. It was meant to benefit poor patients as the treatment would have been free of cost, but the plan has now been shelved.

Road Ahead

• There is a huge unmet need for access to PBT treatment in India. The government should focus on setting up PBT centres in various parts of the country to provide more cancer patients with access to the treatment. While setting up the PBT centre, it is important to address safety concerns, infrastructural and regulatory challenges. The success of PBT in Apollo Hospital Chennai can be an inspiration for other healthcare providers to invest in this technology.