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What are the benefits of proton therapy?
When should we consider proton therapy?
Which tumours are suitable for proton therapy?
Why should I choose proton therapy?
What is proton therapy?
Proton therapy is treatment delivered with particles. Protons are separated from hydrogen atoms and sped up in a particle accelerator and delivered to the patient. Protons stop at a predetermined distance in the patient instead of traveling through. They also deposit most of the dose at the tumour. On the other hand, X-rays from treatments like intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) travel through and through the patient. X-rays also have a deposit a higher dose at the surface of the patient relative to the tumour itself. Thus, proton therapy has a better dosimetric profile.
What are the benefits of proton therapy?
Proton therapy is useful in two scenarios:
- Escalate dose
- Keep the toxicity in adjacent organs constant but increase the radiation dose to the tumour
- Example: curing more skull base chordomas without causing blindness
- Reduce collateral radiation injury
- Keep radiation to the tumour constant but reduce toxicity to adjacent normal organs
- Example: curing the same rate of medulloblastomas but reducing the damage to heart and lungs
The patient above is a young child and will likely have reduced risk of :
- Neurocognitive deficits, e.g. IQ loss
- Hearing loss
- Second cancers
- Hormonal defiencies
- Loss of quality of life
When should we consider proton therapy?
You should consider proton therapy for the following types of patients:
- Young patients, especially children, as their risk of second cancer from therapy itself is higher
- Radioresistant tumours requiring dose escalation, e.g. chordoma, chondrosarcoma
- Tumours in locations with many critical structures nearby, e.g. head and neck cancer, brain tumours
- When the dose splash with conventional radiotherapy will be significant enough to cause more side effects, e.g. craniospinal irradiation
Which tumours are suitable for proton therapy?
There are many tumours recommended by the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Pleaseclick hereto see their recommendations. Not all of these tumours are eligible for treatment in Singapore. However, the Ministry of Health (MOH) allows treatment of other tumours on research protocols. Please speak to our doctor today if you would like to find out more.
Why should I choose proton therapy?
This is a difficult decision to make as technical expertise is required to determine the benefit of protons for your particular tumour. Please speak to our doctor if you would like proton therapy.
How do I get proton therapy?
You need to visit a proton beam therapy centre. Our facility at biopolis provides proton beam therapy via with Varian ProBeam.
