[Proton therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas: From physics to clinic].

[Proton therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas: From physics to clinic]. Cancer Radiother. 2019 Jul 26;: Authors: Beddok A, Vela A, Calugaru V, Tessonnier T, Kubes J, Dutheil P, Gérard A, Vidal M, Goudjil F, Florescu C, Kammerer E, Bénézery K, Hérault J, Bourhis J, Thariat J, Gortec et de trois centres français Abstract Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is presently the recommended technique for the treatment of locally advanced head and neck carcinomas. Proton therapy would allow to reduce the volume of irradiated normal tissue and, thus, to decrease the risk of late dysphagia, xerostomia, dysgeusia and hypothyroidism. An exhaustive research was performed with the search engine PubMed by focusing on the papers about the physical difficulties that slow down use of proton therapy for head and neck carcinomas. Range uncertainties in proton therapy (±3 %) paradoxically limit the use of the steep dose gradient in distality. Calibration uncertainties can be important in the treatment of head and neck cancer in the presence of materials of uncertain stoichiometric composition (such as with metal implants, dental filling, etc.) and complex heterogeneities. Dental management for example may be different with IMRT or proton therapy. Some uncertainties can be somewhat minimized at the time of optimization. Inter- and intrafractional variations and uncertainties in Hounsfield units/stopping power can be integrated ...
Source: Cancer Radiotherapie - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Cancer Radiother Source Type: research