A small study on proton-based radiotherapy has shown it may be more effective for mesothelioma patients than electron-based radiotherapy, the current standard.
The majority of mesothelioma patients currently receive conventional electron-based radiation therapy. Radiation will sometimes shrink a tumor, but there is significant risk of the ionized particles causing damage to the healthy tissue around the tumor. Mesothelioma tumors tend to be long and thin and situated near critical organs such as the heart and lungs, leading to permanent damage in vital areas.
Proton-based therapy, like its electron-based counterpart, ionizes radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. However, protons differ from electrons in that they tend to lose energy more quickly as they slow down, making it possible to deposit a higher dose of radiation into a tumor without damaging healthy tissue beyond it.
A group of Italian doctors conducted a study of seven mesothelioma patients and found that proton-based therapy offered “clear advantages” in the evenness of dosage throughout the tumor. In other words, they found the new therapy to be safer for the organs surrounding the tumor.
Larger studies will be required to verify that the new therapy is indeed better than the old for the treatment of all tumors, but the results of this study are certainly encouraging.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP – mesothelioma attorneys