Technological aspects and clinical applications of proton therapy

Proton therapy certainly presents a ballistic advantage with in-depth dose distribution following a Bragg peak. Some fifteen health-care centres are presently applying this technique in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Low-energy systems allow the treatment of tumours of the eye while higher energies are able to reach tumours deep in the trunk. The present two major indications are the conservative treatment of ocular melanomas and the post-operative irradiation of sarcomas of the skull base and of the spinal canal. Other treatments are presently being explored: carcinomas of the prostate; tumours of the head and neck, of the central nervous system and of the liver. (authors). 9 refs