Dennis’ Story

Dennis' treatment

Having read up on the subject, Dennis was convinced that proton beam therapy was the best treatment option for him and made the decision to begin treatment at the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales in Newport in October 2018. At the time, it was the only centre in the UK to offer high energy proton beam therapy.

Proton beam therapy can be used to treat a range of cancers; however, it is particularly effective for tackling hard-to-reach tumours given that it reduces damage to surrounding healthy tissue, which in turn may reduce side effects – an aspect of the treatment which greatly appealed to Dennis.

Dennis had 4 months of targeted therapy followed by four weeks of high energy proton beam therapy treatment. The only part he found slightly troublesome was the targeted therapy, but the effects wore off following the treatment. The proton beam therapy itself was fine. Mr Allen said that treatment is so fast each day under the actual proton beam that “it takes longer to make a slice of toast”. During the treatment, Dennis did not experience tiredness and had very few side effects and was able to exercise and go on regular walks throughout the course of his treatment.