High energy proton beam therapy, an advanced form of radiotherapy, made its debut in the UK in 2018. Both the NHS and private clinics began offering this treatment in the same year, but they treated very different patient groups. While the NHS used the therapy to treat childhood cancer, private clinics began treating men with prostate cancer.
The situation is similar in other countries. Prostate cancer patients are the most common referral for proton beam therapy in the US and internationally make up the majority treated at many proton centres.
But who sees the greatest benefit from proton beam