Hello everyone, long time no see!

[lamchopz]

Hmm, I didnt know tbh. I suddenly just got reminded that day and googled if FFan still existed xD

Hahas I highly doubt Im a saint. I wanted to be a vet in the past but Singapore does not have it as a course, you needed to take it overseas (vets in Singapore usually have theirs in Australia). Only recently did we have it (starting next august) in ONE uni and only accepted 15 students.

Yes you are absolutely right.
Hmm, in current clinical radiotherapy we use electron beam and x-ray to treat patients with cancer which tends to have side effects. Proton are much heavier and transfer their energy almost fully upon impact, unlike the previous 2 which continues past the target area and create bremsstrahlung in the patient. What we want to achieve is a double strand break in the DNA of the cancer cell while minimising complications of the cells around it, but of course there is no 100% way to ensure its a double strand break. Fun fact which I was really surprised in my study was that when irradiating a medium/patient, the surface does not have the highest dose, but rather a few cm deep.
Proton therapy does sound better but the machine required for it is massive and the cost of therapy is about 6 times (IIRC) the conventional treatment. Currently Japan has the most machines (of 3). Singapore will get its first in 2022.

Fascinating read. I still don't understand radiation therapy fully. Whenever I see patients who underwent radiotherapy, I just think of complications and whether I can send them home safely.