Proton therapy: the current status of the clinical evidences

Abstract

Proton therapy has the potential advantages of better conformal planning and higher biological effect than photon therapy (X-ray) for targeting tumor tissues. While the energy of a photon passes through the target, the energy of a proton is deposited at a certain depth, which in turn is negligible beyond this stopping point (i.e., the "Bragg peak"). In addition, the proton beam has a 10% higher biological effect in the same dose than the photon beam. Recent technological advances have led to wide use of proton therapy in clinical practice. To date, more than 170,000 patients have received proton therapy. Although clinical experience with proton therapy is increasing now, only approximately 1% of all radiation therapy recipients receive proton therapy and prospective randomized studies involving large sample populations remain very limited yet. The aim of this review is to describe the physical and biological properties of proton therapy and discusses the clinical evidence supporting proton therapy in various disease sites.

Current status of proton therapy techniques for lung cancer

“…By 2030 the number of patients treated with proton therapy is expected to grow to be over 300,000. However, the clinical evidence clearly supporting broad use of proton therapy is not yet clear in many tumor sites [97]. Particularly in the lung, the clinical benefit in reducing lung toxicity and improving treatment outcomes with PS is not evident compared with IMRT.…”

An Experimental Model of Proton-Beam-Induced Radiation Dermatitis In Vivo

“…For more than 60% of the patients with malignant tumors, radiotherapy is an integral component of treatment, either in combination with surgery or chemotherapy or on its own [4]. In particular, proton therapy has significantly developed clinically in the last two decades, although the method itself was discovered more than half a century ago [5][6][7]. Proton therapy has been found to reduce the likelihood of early or late radiation complications in healthy tissues, including secondary radiation-induced tumors [8].…”