What is the cost of proton therapy?

Median Medicare reimbursement for treating prostate cancer with proton beam therapy is $32,428, as of 2015. Some forms of proton beam therapy cost less, such as accelerated partial breast irradiation, which costs an estimated $13,833 for 10 treatments over a single week.

Another type of proton beam therapy, whole breast irradiation, incurs a median Medicare charge of $19,599. The average charge across eight different types of treatment regimens studied by the National Cancer Institute at the University of Texas MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center for a similar week-long treatment cycle is $12,784. These prices are similar to those of other types of radiation treatments.