MADRID, Sept 3 ― The parents of Ashya King, a 5-year-old with brain tumour, were released from Madrid’s Soto del Real prison yesterday, after being detained for removing their child from a hospital in England and taking him to Spain.
Brett and Naghemeh King took Ashya from the hospital because doctors there refused to approve the proton beam treatment they were seeking for their son.
Traditional X-ray radiation treatment has been proven to eliminate cancerous tumors, but because the pattern of irradiation cannot be accurately controlled, healthy tissue is often damaged during treatment.
Protons, given their charge and mass, can be energised to specific velocities to target tissues of specific depth and volume. The particles can be directed to slow down, increasing their interaction with targeted tumour tissues.
British media reported that the surgeons who had been caring for Ashya King have now approved the treatment.
Ashya will soon return to the UK for two cycles of chemotherapy. After that he will travel to Prague, where he will receive proton therapy at the Proton Therapy Centre. ― Reuters
