Proton beam therapy for pediatric patients

Proton beam therapy (PBT) has advantages for pediatric patients because of the excellent dose distribution which leads to reduction of the normal tissue dose. There are three main advantages of PBT for pediatric patients : reduction of secondary cancer risk due to lower doses ; reduction of doses to organs to alleviate concerns of reduced intelligence, decreased endocrine functions, and heart failure : and better dose concentration. For these reasons, PBT is often possible for a tumor that is difficult to control with photon radiotherapy. In this section, we discuss the advantages of PBT for pediatric patients. (author)