title: Proton therapy for pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Radiotherapy is commonly offered to patients with pancreatic malignancies although its ultimate utility is compromised since the pancreas is surrounded by exquisitely radiosensitive normal tissues, such as the duodenum, stomach, jejunum, liver, and kidneys. Proton radiotherapy can be used to create dose distributions that conform to tumor targets with significant normal tissue sparing. Because of this, protons appear to represent a superior modality for radiotherapy delivery to patients with unresectable tumors and those receiving postoperative radiotherapy. A particularly exciting opportunity for protons also exists for patients with resectable and marginally resectable disease. In this paper, we review the current literature on proton therapy for pancreatic cancer and discuss scenarios wherein the improvement in the therapeutic index with protons may have the potential to change the management paradigm for this malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Romaine C Nichols, Soon Huh, Zuofeng Li, Michael Rutenberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32206, United States.
authors.forename: Romaine C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.affiliation: Romaine C Nichols, Soon Huh, Zuofeng Li, Michael Rutenberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32206, United States.
authors.forename: Soon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Romaine C Nichols, Soon Huh, Zuofeng Li, Michael Rutenberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32206, United States.
authors.forename: Zuofeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Romaine C Nichols, Soon Huh, Zuofeng Li, Michael Rutenberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32206, United States.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rutenberg
keywords: Pancreatic cancer; Proton therapy; Review