WATCH: Proton beam therapy gives hope to teen boy with rare tumour

Fifteen-year Mason Kettley has a rare brain tumour, which was diagnosed as inoperable.

But Kettley now has hope for the future, in the form of proton beam therapy – he will be one of the first patients to be treated in the United Kingdom, at a new therapy centre in Manchester.

According to the NHS, proton beam therapy uses beams of protons to achieve the same cell-killing effect as conventional radiotherapy, but, unlike conventional radiotherapy, the beam of protons stops once it "hits" the cancerous cells, resulting in much less damage to surrounding tissue.

The therapy first made waves in 2014, when a British couple took their child to the Czech Republic amid an international police hunt and media storm – after ignoring medical advice.