Definition
Proton beam therapy is a form of advanced radiation therapy that uses charged particles; it is used principally for the treatment of malignant tumors and occasionally for benign diseases.
Characteristics
Advanced radiation techniques that use photons (X-rays), such as three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D CRT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), have seen rapid development. The common goal of these treatments is to deliver a high dose to the target while minimizing the dose given to normal tissues. This is essential to achieve better local control and lower toxicity in the treatment of malignant tumors. Although advanced radiation therapies such as these enable higher-dose irradiation to a target, they produce a larger low-dose irradiated volume of normal tissues around the target due to the dispersion of radiation; this will increase the risk of radiation-induced secondary...
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References
Goitein M, Jermann M (2003) The relative costs of proton and X-ray radiation therapy. Clin Oncol 15:S37–S50
Hata M, Tokuuye K, Sugahara S et al (2006) Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with limited treatment options. Cancer 107:591–598
Hata M, Tokuuye K, Kagei K et al (2007) Hypofractionated high-dose proton beam therapy for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: preliminary results of a phase I/II clinical study. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 68:786–793
Paganetti H, Niemierko A, Ancukiewicz M et al (2002) Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values for proton beam therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 53:407–421
Suit H, Goldberg S, Niemierko A et al (2003) Proton beams to replace photon beams in radical dose treatments. Acta Oncol 42:800–808
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Hata, M. (2016). Proton Beam Therapy. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46875-3_4824
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46875-3_4824
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