Northwestern Medicine's Chicago Proton Center offers cancer treatment

Radiation oncologist, John Han-Chih Chang, MD, and tonsillar cancer patient, Tom Garrett, stopped by "Windy City LIVE" to discuss treatment options available at Northwestern Medicine's Chicago Proton Center.

Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation therapy. This form of radiation therapy uses protons-positively charged atomic particles-instead of the photons or X-rays used in standard radiation. Proton therapy can treat many (but not all) of the same tumors that are treated with standard radiation.

Since the first hospital-based proton treatment center opened in California in 1990, nearly 40,000 people have received proton therapy in the United States and almost 100,000 people worldwide. Experts conservatively estimate that about 250,000 cancer patients in the United States could benefit from proton therapy.

For more information, please visit: http://www.chicagoprotoncenter.com/