Ashya King begins proton therapy treatment in bid to beat brain cancer
ASHYA King has begun his proton therapy treatment that was funded by generous Britons in a bid to beat brain cancer.
His parents were at the centre of an international hunt after they removed the sick child from a British hospital and took him abroad without doctors' permission.
Brett and Nagmeh King fled to Spain where they were jailed for three days as they wanted the specialist treatment which is not available on the NHS.
The Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague, where Ashya is being treated, said he left hospital this morning and began radiation treatment.
His attending doctor Barbora Ondrova, said: "There is a 70 to 80 per cent survival rate for the condition such as Ashya has and there is now every reason to hope that he will make a full recovery."
There is a 70 to 80 per cent survival rate for the condition such as Ashya has
Britons donated enough money to provide Ashya with the proton therapy after an outcry over their treatment.
Mr and Mrs King faced a legal battle to get their child to Prague after removing Ashya from Southampton General Hospital on August 28.
A High Court judge approved the move after the parents had been released from police custody in Spain after an arrest warrant was withdrawn.
The child now face 30 visits to the PTC - the first 13 trips will focus on the brain and spine to ensure the tumour he had removed has not spread.
The remaining 17 appointments will irradiate where the brain tumour once was.
The PTC, in a statement on its website, outlined the difference between proton beam therapy and conventional radiotherapy.
It said: "Proton therapy can be much better modulated and precisely focused into the tumour volume. In case of irradiation of medulloblastoma in Ashya, it is necessary to apply the highest possible dose into the former location but protect the tissue around as much as possible.
"In Ashya's case, those are vital structures of the heart, lung, liver and intestines."
They added that the treatment would also decrease the dose to other parts of the body, including the heart, liver and intestines by up to 80 per cent.
They said: "This means decreasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disorders, breathing disorders or metabolic disorders on the first place and better protection of the swallowing functions and normal food intake."
After Ashya and his parents were reunited following spending 72-hours in jail Mr King accused British medics of warning to turn his son "into a vegetable".
During an emotional press conference in Spain, he said: "They treated us like terrorists. The hospital wanted to kill him, turn him into a vegetable. Would I do it all again? Yes I would."
The proton beam treatment is popular because it has a lower risk of side effects than more commonly used methods of tackling cancer.
Ashya's treatment was funded by donations to the Kids'n'Cancer charity.
