Working alongside a British medical firm, the team at the Cern laboratory in Geneva plan to slash the cost of an alternative to debilitating radiotherapy. The method, known as proton beam therapy (PBT), treats tumors with high-powered beams of positively charged particles, is more effective than traditional radiotherapy, and leaves healthy tissue undamaged. “PBT offers a significant improvement for patients with cancer than conventional radiotherapy. Everybody recognizes the advantages of the technique, but so far, the big problem has always been cost,” according to Dr. Mike Sinclair, who heads Advanced Oncotherapy, in London.
