The proton radiation therapy is an external-beam radiation treatment procedure and an alternative to the x-ray therapy or the Cobalt-60 gamma-ray therapy. The radiation therapy is a conventional treatment method, developed in the early 20th century and consisting of intraprostatic radium implants. Once the radiation sources became stronger the external beam procedure became the popular choice for radiation therapy and today, the oncologists treat diseases such as cancer in two ways: by implanting LDR radioactive pellets or seeds in the infected organ, here the prostate, and leave them there until they eventually decay and disappear, a procedure also known as seed implantation procedure or permanent brachytherapy; the other is the proton radiation, using specialized machines to generate beams from outside the infected body area and directly place the radiation on it, usually for a few minutes and sometimes for hours, depending on the location, size and type of cancer and the required dose rate.

The use of proton energy for medical treatment was proposed in 1946 and ten years later his treatment procedure became standard for treating diseases such as cancer. The common side effects of radiation therapy are incontinence and impotence, but when the proton beam therapy is used there is always a possibility for doctors to damage some of the healthy tissues surrounding the prostate organ just because there is no way for them to guess what energy dose is necessary to damage the tumor. The results obtained after a certain dose is established and used may vary, depending on the stage of the cancer, how far spread is or how the body reacts to such a treatment. The proton beam procedure goes something like this: the proton begins its journey in an injector located within an electric field where the hydrogen atoms are being separated into positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons, the first being transported through a vacuum tube until they start their journey at a high speed in the synchrotron, circulating at about ten million times per second and increasing the energy of the protons with approximately seventy and two hundred fifty million electron volts, until they reach at any depth of the patients body. The guidance room, where the patient is treated with the proton therapy, has computers which direct the placement of the beams and control the correct doses of radiation a patient needs.

This is done under the full observation of medical experts and oncologists or the physicians specialized in radiation therapy. There is a possibility that this treatment method might be the right one for your and your disease, and although it is a rather new treatment procedure the results are encouraging. The prostate cancer is a frequent and common disease and treatments are available for it, even if the cancer is in an advanced form and has become metastatic. The doctors will advise the patients and give details about each treatment method. Before making a decision try to find out more about the treatment you want to use.