PHYS 123 Speaker Ali Tasson

26 March 2012

Zapping Cancer with Protons

A new way of fighting cancer is taking the country by storm, proton therapy.  Traditional radiation therapy uses high doses of x-rays to kill cancer cells.  The same can be done with a proton beam with some notable benefits.  Ali is a medical physicist who works for Procure Treatment Centers, a company devoted to building proton therapy centers across the country.  She will discuss why protons and cancer don’t mix and how you get 10 billion protons to stop on a tumor with a margin of one millimeter.  Come find out what it’s like to spend your day helping people fight cancer with protons.