I n contrast to biology and medicine, physics is not usually considered one of the life sciences. Yet basic research in physics makes critical, though often unsung, contributions to saving lives. Fermilab's role in cancer treatment is a case in point. Last month the Loma Linda Proton Treatment Center celebrated 10 years of treating cancer patients using particle beams from a compact proton accelerator completely designed and built at Fermilab. In the decade of the Center's operation, accelerator technology from Fermilab has provided cancer therapy at Loma Linda for more than 6000 patients from around the world.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease.
Nearly five million lives have been lost to cancer since 1990, and physicians have diagnosed almost three times as many people with cancer during the same period of time. With people living longer than ever before, their chance of developing cancer is at an all-time high. The good news is that improved techniques for early diagnosis and more effective treatment methods save millions of lives. As alternatives to chemotherapy, hormone treatment and surgery, physicians have worked with physicists to develop therapies based on the properties of subatomic particles. Today, therapy with particle beams is a well-established medical field, and progress in beam physics and accelerator technology have helped to reduce side effects.