Who: Cancer patients in India, Apollo Hospital, Indian government, Tata Memorial Hospital.
What: Proton beam therapy (PBT), a cancer treatment that uses protons to precisely target cancer cells and save adjoining organs.
Where: Apollo Hospital in Chennai, South and West Asia, India.
When: Currently, India only has one PBT unit and several proposed projects that have not yet been implemented.
Why: Cancer patients in India face challenges in accessing PBT due to the limited number of facilities offering the treatment and the high cost, which can run into many lakhs of rupees. PBT is considered a viable alternative to radiation for treating solid tumors, especially head and neck cancers. There is a huge unmet need for access to the treatment in India, where cancer incidence cases are estimated to be over 14 lakh in 2022.
How: PBT can destroy cancer cells precisely by targeting tumors, thus saving adjoining organs. It has been helpful in cases where young women's reproductive function could be salvaged through the therapy. However, setting up a PBT center is fraught with infrastructural and regulatory challenges stemming from safety concerns from the Department of Atomic Energy. PBT machines are huge contraptions, up to three storeys tall and cost nearly ₹500 crore.
