Radiating Hope: Groundbreaking Cancer Treatment
A new precision therapy technique is targeting hard-to-treat cancers like never before.
Radiating Hope: A Groundbreaking Cancer Treatment
For many cancer patients, side effects from radiation can be debilitating. But a new way of delivering radiation treatment has proven effective at eliminating a hard-to-treat cancer, with the only side effect being light skin discoloration, even nine months after treatment.
This new treatment, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy, is the first to be used by physicians and scientists to treat a patient at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Compared to other proton therapies, the step-and-shoot technology uses a proton beam to distribute radiation exactly to the tumor area in a more continuous, automated fashion with less lag time between radiation dosages. Other therapies involve manual delivery methods that take more time and monitoring, and can be less accurate. Because this new technology allows physicians to pinpoint a tumor more precisely, the patient results so far show the therapy can spare surrounding healthy tissue and organs, as well as decrease side effects, something 46-year-old Tiffiney Beard of Redford, Michigan, is grateful for.
Beard was diagnosed in early 2024 with adenoid cystic carcinoma — a rare, highly invasive, and often difficult-to-treat tumor — in her salivary gland.
“Managing this type of tumor is very difficult because of its natural tendency to be nerve-seeking,” said Rohan Deraniyagala, MD, radiation oncologist, Corewell Health.
Dr. Deraniyagala said because these tumors like to target the body’s nerves, fighting them typically comes with many side effects, like fatigue, jaw pain, difficulty eating or swallowing, loss of taste, headaches, and memory issues. In Beard’s case, the tumor had weaved its way into the nerves leading to her brain.
But thanks to this new type of treatment, Beard continues to be side-effect-free. The treatment process also only took about 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for three months, which meant she didn’t have to miss work or lose out on family time.
“After having the tumor removed, which was about the size of a gumball, I had 33 proton therapy treatments in total, and amazingly, had no side effects and didn’t miss a day of work,” Beard said. “You hear a lot of stories about radiation side effects, and I just wasn’t having any.”
Beard completed her treatment in early August last year, and to date, is still showing no signs of cancer. From what Dr. Deraniyagala can tell, she has no radiation toxicity to other areas of her body, including her brain.
“It was nice to see a patient have no side effects with this treatment other than a little skin discoloration on the left side of her face,” he said.
Beard’s case study is published in the International Journal of Particle Therapy.
Treatment side effects and outcomes can vary, but Dr. Deraniyagala is hopeful that other patients will have the same experience Beard did with this treatment.
“Proton beam therapies continue to evolve rapidly, and while in this case, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy has proven to be highly effective so far for Tiffiney, it is just the latest step toward even better treatments down the road,” he said. “The fact that Tiffiney hardly experienced any side effects is a great outcome for this type of therapy and a good sign of even better things to come.”
Recently, Corewell Health researchers received a $2.2 million National Institutes of Health grant to further refine the proton arc technique that is currently used in step-and-shoot proton beam therapy, as well as other proton beam treatments. This continued research will help Corewell Health physicians prepare for the next generation of arc therapies known as DynamicARC®, which have the potential to further transform cancer treatment.
Are you a good candidate for step-and-shoot proton arc treatment?
This treatment is for people who have been diagnosed with head and neck cancer and require radiation therapy.
Connect with a proton therapy nurse navigator
For more information, patients can call to speak with a proton therapy nurse navigator.
Cancer care treatment at Corewell Health
At Corewell Health, we take a coordinated approach to cancer care, making the journey as seamless as possible.
