Prospects for proton-beam radiotherapy

Proton beams are already being employed for radiation therapy in 15 centres worldwide and over a dozen more are planned. Good clinical results have been reported in uveal melanomas and in sarcomas of the skull base. Calculated dose distributions for the treatment of brain, lung, head and neck and pelvic tumours predict an improvement relative to multiple-field or conformal photon radiotherapy. Protons may well provide high-precision radiotherapy that will lead to improved treatment of certain tumours in specific anatomical locations. (author)