STUDENT: Kaylee Salony

ADVISOR: Dr. Megan Van Etten

ABSTRACT:

Cancer treatment remains one of the biggest questions in science. Proton therapy is a widely used form of cancer treatment that uses high-energy beams of protons (radiation) to damage the DNA in the targeted cells. However, this technique is only successful in about 50% of patients, necessitating a more efficient cancer treatment. One potential source of treatment is provided by antiprotons. Antiprotons are similar to protons except they carry a negative charge rather than a positive one. Because of this difference, when protons collide with antiprotons, the two particles will annihilate into different forms of energy such as gamma rays and Pions, which could provide a satisfactory solution for cancer therapy. This study reviews multiple articles to evaluate the effectiveness of antiprotons in treating cancer. Overall, antiprotons were found to provide higher equivalent doses of radiation than protons, and thus, kill more cancerous cells. This supports the usage of antiprotons as an effective treatment for cancerous cells.