Proton therapy is beneficial if it meets one of the following conditions:
Lower dose in healthy tissue
The radiation dose in healthy tissue is decreased, while the dose in the tumour remains constant. This can result in fewer (late) side effects and a lower risk of developing a new cancer (a secondary tumour) several years later as a result of the radiation.
Higher dose in the tumour
With proton therapy, the dose in the tumour area can be increased, without equally increasing the dose in the surrounding tissue. This is especially useful for tumours that have a better chance of being cured by administering a higher radiation dose, but for which classic radiotherapy is impossible because the risk for serious side effects (such as blindness) is too big.
Registration proton therapy
-
Requests for proton therapy have to go through a referring radiation-oncologist. You haven't got a referral? Please make an appointment with your own radiation-oncologist or with one of the radiation-oncologists specialised in proton therapy working at PARTICLE.
-
Do you have an urgent problem or questions? Contact us via protontherapy@uzleuven.be.