Proton therapy and sarcomas

Sarcomas are a heterogenous group of malignancies for which radiation therapy has an important role in local tumor control. Historically, proton beam therapy (PBT) provided a means for dose escalation while sparing nearby critical structures, which led to its adoption for the treatment of chordomas and chondrosarcomas. Less high-level evidence is available for using PBT to treat sarcomas of other histologies. This chapter presents the available evidence to support its use. Moreover, the ubiquitous nature of sarcomas may require extrapolation of findings from other anatomic disease-specific sites to support the use of PBT when applicable.