Since November 1973, intraoperative radiotherapy has been performed on five patients with unresectable, advanced carcinoma of the bile duct at the hepatic hilus and six patients with unresectable carcinoma of the gallbladder. A treatment cone with a diameter ranging from 4--10 cm was directly applied at the lesion. A single dose of 2500--3000 rad with 11 to 20 meV electrons was delivered. In all patients, recanalization of the obstructed bile duct was observed by the postoperative cholangiography. The local efficacy was confirmed histopathologically in eight autopsied materials and a specimen resected 105 days after radiotherapy. Mean survival time of patients with unresectable tumors was 10.9 +/- 5.6 (SD) months after this radiotherapy. Intraoperative radiotherapy increased the effectiveness and length of palliation for the unresectable lesion.
There are two facilities for clinical trials with protons in Japan: the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), Chiba, and the Particle Radiation Medical Science Center (PARMS), University of Tsukuba. At the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, patient treatment with the 70 MeV proton beam began in November 1979, and 29 patients were treated through December 1984. Of 11 patients who received protons only, 9 have had local control of the tumor. Two of the 9 patients, suffering from recurrent tumor after radical photon beam irradiation, developed complications after proton treatment. In the patients treated with photons or neutrons followed by proton boost, tumors were controlled in 12 of 18 patients (66.6%), and no complications were observed in this series. Malignant melanoma could not be controlled with the proton beam. A spot-beam-scanning system for protons has been effectively used in the clinical trials to minimize the dose to the normal tissues and to concentrate the dose in the target volume. At the Particle Radiation Medical Science Center, University of Tsukuba, treatment with a vertical 250 MeV proton beam was begun in April 1983, and 22 patients were treated through February 1984. Local control of the tumor was observed in 14 of 22 patients (63.6%), whereas there was no local control in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. There have been no severe complications in patients treated at PARMS. The results suggest that local control of tumors will be better with proton beams than with photon beams, whereas additional modalities are required to manage radioresistant tumors.
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