News — Southfield, Mich., April 23, 2025 – For many cancer patients, side effects from radiation can be debilitating. But a new way of delivering radiation treatment has proven effective at eliminating a hard-to-treat cancer with the only side effect being light skin discoloration, even nine months after treatment.
This new treatment, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy, is the first to be used by physicians and scientists to treat a patient at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Compared to other proton therapies, the step-and-shoot technology uses a proton beam to distribute radiation exactly to the tumor area in a more continuous, automated fashion with less lag time between radiation dosages. Other therapies involve manual delivery methods that take more time and monitoring and can be less accurate. Because this new technology allows physicians to pinpoint a tumor more precisely, the patient results so far show that the therapy can spare surrounding healthy tissue and organs as well as decrease side effects, something 46-year-old Tiffiney Beard of Redford, Michigan, is grateful for.
Beard was diagnosed in early 2024 with adenoid cystic carcinoma — a rare, highly invasive and often difficult-to-treat tumor — in her salivary gland.
“Managing this type of tumor is very difficult because of its natural tendency to be nerve seeking,” said Rohan Deraniyagala, M.D., radiation oncologist, Corewell Health.
Dr. Deraniyagala said because these tumors like to target the body’s nerves, fighting them typically comes with many side effects like fatigue, jaw pain, difficulty eating or swallowing, loss of taste, headaches and memory issues. In Beard’s case, the tumor had weaved its way into the nerves leading to her brain.
But thanks to this new type of treatment, Beard continues to be side-effect free. The treatment process also only took about 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for three months, which meant she didn’t have to miss work or lose out on family time.
“After having the tumor removed, which was about the size of a gumball, I had 33 proton therapy treatments in total and, amazingly, had no side effects and didn’t miss a day of work,” Beard said. “You hear a lot of stories about radiation side effects, and I just wasn’t having any.”
Beard completed her treatment in early August last year, and as of her last checkup, she is still showing no signs of cancer. From what Dr. Deraniyagala can tell, she has no radiation toxicity to other areas of her body, including her brain.
“It was nice to see a patient have no side effects with this treatment other than a little skin discoloration on the left side of her face,” he said.
Beard’s case study is being presented by Dr. Deraniyagala at the International Symposium on Proton Therapy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 26, as well as the Particle Therapy Cooperative Group annual meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 2 to June 7. The study also is published in the .
Treatment side effects and outcomes can vary, but Dr. Deraniyagala is hopeful that other patients will have the same experience Beard did with this treatment.
“Proton beam therapies continue to evolve rapidly and while in this case, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy has proven to be highly effective so far for Tiffiney, it is just the latest step toward even better treatments down the road,” he said. “The fact that Tiffiney hardly experienced any side effects is a great outcome for this type of therapy and a good sign of even better things to come.”
Currently, physicians and scientists at Corewell Health’s William Beaumont University Proton Therapy Center are trialing a next-generation proton beam therapy, known as DynamicARC®, that has the potential to further transform cancer treatment. Through an active research collaboration with Ion Beam Application, an international proton therapy system manufacturer, Corewell Health is advancing the step-and-shoot proton arc technique by creating an even better targeted delivery system with no lag time in between radiation dosages and beam angles. DynamicARC® is expected to receive FDA approval next year.
For more information and to connect with a proton therapy nurse navigator, patients can call 248.551.8402.
About Corewell Health™
People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 65,000+ dedicated people—including more than 12,000 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 16,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org.
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Contact: Sarina Gleason
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