By Robert-Jan Bartunek

LOUVAIN LA NEUVE, Belgium, Sept 1 (Reuters) - When Yves Jongen stood at the controls of his proton therapy machine fifteen years ago to treat a cancer patient for the first time he was petrified.

Now Jongen's company IBA is hiring 400 engineers to cope with demand for the technology, increasing its workforce by a third, and expanding its production capacity to make up to 30 machines a year, from a maximum of eight now.

"It is such a responsibility to send a beam of potentially lethal particles into the body of a fellow human being. It is exciting but scary at the same time," he said.

Proton therapy made the front pages in Britain last year when five-year-old Ashya King was removed from hospital by his parents, against the advice of doctors, and flown to Prague for treatment using an IBA-made machine.

There are only 170 proton therapy treatment rooms worldwide to handle about 1 percent of radiation therapy patients.

But there is already a consensus on the technology's benefits for certain types of patients, such as children and young adults with spinal cord and base of brain tumours and a growing belief that it could also limit side effects.

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Source: Reuters