title: Proton beam therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer.
abstract: Proton beam therapy (PBT) offers the potential of dose escalation to target tissue while decreasing toxicity through unique physical dose deposition characteristics. PBT has been used to treat prostate cancer for several decades; however, recent enhancements in availability and treatment delivery have peaked interest in this technology among radiation oncologists, industry experts, and prostate cancer patients. As a result, the importance of understanding the collective experience and technical aspects of PBT delivery has become increasingly important in radiation medicine. This review article is intended to critically review the literature on PBT for localized prostate cancer, discuss the fundamentals of PBT treatment planning, and describe the continued development of proton beam technology for the treatment of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: tpugh@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Pugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Seungtaek
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Quyhn Nhu
authors.initials: QN
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gillin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ron Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lee