About this Research Topic
Proton therapy is used to decrease acute and late toxicities during the treatment of cancers. Because it spares the organ at risk, it could also improve tumor coverage and tumor control. This article collection will look at the putative indications for proton therapy, including cancers where life expectancy is long, such as pediatric cancers, benign disease or cancers of young adults (mainly nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Hodgkin lymphoma). Tumor location could be a useful indicator for the application of proton therapy. However, tumor control is often problematic and dose escalation needs to be further investigated. The use of protons could indeed elicit an increase of the prescription dose during reirradiation of liver, pancreatic, head and neck and retroperitoneal malignancies.
Proton therapy differs from conventional radiotherapy and can be challenging in terms of technique and dose control in moving target/changing anatomies, as well as the dose to the brainstem other critical nerve structures, and skin.
Thus, the aim of this Research Topic is to collect the most recent data on the indications for proton therapy and address current challenges in an attempt to identify the best methodology which would enable the use of proton therapy to a wide range of cancers. We propose the following subtopics to be discussed:
1) Pencil beam scanning with apertures.
2) Ventilation methods during the treatment of moving target with proton therapy.
3) Microscopic simulations at the interface between physics and biology.
4) Secondary malignancy modeling: application and consequences for proton therapy.
5) Description of the preclinical model for brain proton irradiation.
6) Clinical outcome of proton therapy in neuroblastoma.
7) Quality of life after the treatment of central nervous system tumors with proton therapy.
8) The role of proton radiation therapy for primary hepatobiliary tumors: current evidence, motion management, and future directions.
9) The outcome of patients treated with the first pulsed and very intense proton beam therapy system.
10) Proton therapy in pediatric oncology.
Proton therapy differs from conventional radiotherapy and can be challenging in terms of technique and dose control in moving target/changing anatomies, as well as the dose to the brainstem other critical nerve structures, and skin.
Thus, the aim of this Research Topic is to collect the most recent data on the indications for proton therapy and address current challenges in an attempt to identify the best methodology which would enable the use of proton therapy to a wide range of cancers. We propose the following subtopics to be discussed:
1) Pencil beam scanning with apertures.
2) Ventilation methods during the treatment of moving target with proton therapy.
3) Microscopic simulations at the interface between physics and biology.
4) Secondary malignancy modeling: application and consequences for proton therapy.
5) Description of the preclinical model for brain proton irradiation.
6) Clinical outcome of proton therapy in neuroblastoma.
7) Quality of life after the treatment of central nervous system tumors with proton therapy.
8) The role of proton radiation therapy for primary hepatobiliary tumors: current evidence, motion management, and future directions.
9) The outcome of patients treated with the first pulsed and very intense proton beam therapy system.
10) Proton therapy in pediatric oncology.
Keywords: Proton Therapy, cancer, physics, controversies, clinical evidence
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