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Review
. 2023 Mar 29:13:1133909.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1133909. eCollection 2023.

Proton versus photon radiation therapy: A clinical review

Zhe Chen  1 , Michael M Dominello  2 , Michael C Joiner  2 , Jay W Burmeister  2
Affiliations
Review

Proton versus photon radiation therapy: A clinical review

Zhe Chen et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

While proton radiation therapy offers substantially better dose distribution characteristics than photon radiation therapy in certain clinical applications, data demonstrating a quantifiable clinical advantage is still needed for many treatment sites. Unfortunately, the number of patients treated with proton radiation therapy is still comparatively small, in some part due to the lack of evidence of clear benefits over lower-cost photon-based treatments. This review is designed to present the comparative clinical outcomes between proton and photon therapies, and to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of proton radiation therapy.

Keywords: proton radiation therapy; proton radiotherapy; proton therapy clinical trials; proton therapy non-randomized study; proton therapy randomized study.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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