Proton therapy for pediatric malignancies: Fact, figures and costs. A joint consensus statement from the pediatric subcommittee of PTCOG, PROS and EPTN

Damien C. Weber, Jean Louis Habrand, Bradford S. Hoppe, Christine Hill Kayser, Nadia N. Laack, Johanes A. Langendijk, Shannon M. MacDonald, Susan L. McGovern, Luke Pater, John P. Perentesis, Juliette Thariat, Beate Timmerman, Torunn I. Yock, Anita Mahajan

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Radiotherapy plays an important role in the management of childhood cancer, with the primary aim of achieving the highest likelihood of cure with the lowest risk of radiation-induced morbidity. Proton therapy (PT) provides an undisputable advantage by reducing the radiation ‘bath’ dose delivered to non-target structures/volume while optimally covering the tumor with tumoricidal dose. This treatment modality comes, however, with an additional costs compared to conventional radiotherapy that could put substantial financial pressure to the health care systems with societal implications. In this review we assess the data available to the oncology community of PT delivered to children with cancer, discuss on the urgency to develop high-quality data. Additionally, we look at the advantage of combining systemic agents with protons and look at the cost-effectiveness data published so far.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)44-55
Number of pages12
JournalRadiotherapy and Oncology
Volume128
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2018

Keywords

  • CNS tumors
  • Children
  • Lymphoma
  • Pediatric cancer
  • Proton therapy
  • Sarcoma

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology
  • Oncology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

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