Proton Therapy: The Next Possible Cancer Treatment?

Does proton therapy present a good alternative to other treatment options for cancer? In this project, I will go over the key benefits and cons of different types of proton therapy compared to regular/more commonly used treatments in the medical world.
Devayan Mitra
Grade 9

Presentation

No video provided

Problem

Method

I plan to follow a step-by-step approach to explore the research question:

 

    1. Understand in detail what proton therapy means, what it does, how it works, and for what it is used. This will help me find the pros and cons of other cancer treatments.
    2. This will also help demonstrate how effective cancer treatments are for different people and ages.
    3. This data will also help in finding different side effects for different treatments. (might also see which cancer has which side effects to the therapy)
    4. Understanding the real-life circumstances such as:
      1. availability of the therapy
      2. how much energy it needs to operate.
      3. cost of treatment, energy, resources, etc.
    5. Understanding how they gather protons from a gantry.

Research

Comparisons of the different variables for each treatment (A continuation of 4 slides):

Data

Conclusion

 

 

The conclusion made from the inferences of the graphs:

 

Citations

 
1.Proton therapy. (2022, December 16). Hopkinsmedicine.org. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/proton-therapy
2.What’s the difference? Photon and proton radiation therapy. (2021, July 16). City of Hope. https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2021/12/whats-the-difference-proton-photon-therapy
3.Kojima, S., Cuttler, J. M., Inoguchi, K., Yorozu, K., Horii, T., Shimura, N., Koga, H., & Murata, A. (2019). Radon therapy is very promising as a primary or an adjuvant treatment for different types of cancers: 4 case reports. Dose-Response: A Publication of International Hormesis Society, 17(2), 155932581985316. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559325819853163
4.Middleton, J., Black, K., Ghosh, S., Eisenstat, D. D., & Patel, S. (2021). Indirect costs associated with out-of-country referral for proton therapy: a survey of adult and pediatric patients in Alberta, Canada. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06701-z
5. Prasad, R. N., Patel, T., Perlow, H. K., Yildiz, V. O., Baliga, S., Brownstein, J., Gamez, M. E., Konieczkowski, D. J., Royce, T. J., & Palmer, J. D. (2022). List prices for proton radiation therapy. Practical Radiation Oncology, 12(3), e163–e168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2021.11.013
6.Hoeh, B., Würnschimmel, C., Flammia, R. S., Horlemann, B., Sorce, G., Chierigo, F., Tian, Z., Saad, F., Graefen, M., Gallucci, M., Briganti, A., Terrone, C., Shariat, S. F., Tilki, D., Kluth, L. A., Mandel, P., Chun, F. K. H., & Karakiewicz, P. I. (2021). Effect of chemotherapy on overall survival in contemporary metastatic prostate cancer patients. Frontiers in Oncology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.778858
7.Liermann, J., Naumann, P., Weykamp, F., Hoegen, P., Debus, J., & Herfarth, K. (2021). Effectiveness of carbon ion radiation in locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Frontiers in Oncology, 11, 708884. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.708884
8.Okamoto, M., Shiba, S., Okazaki, S., Miyasaka, Y., Shibuya, K., Kiyohara, H., & Ohno, T. (2021). Feasibility and safety of repeated carbon ion radiotherapy for locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. Cancers, 13(4), 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13040665
9.Chemotherapy. (2022, March 22). Mayoclinic.org. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/chemotherapy/about/pac-20385033
10.Tsang, D. S., & Patel, S. (2019). Proton beam therapy for cancer. Journal de l’Association Medicale Canadienne [Canadian Medical Association Journal], 191(24), E664–E666. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.190008 
11.Kim, J., Wells, C., Khangura, S., Alexander, C., Mulla, S., Farrah, K., Paulden, M., Tsoi, B., DeJean, D., Duthie, K., & Dufour, B. G. (2017). Summary of findings. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531701/
12.Foote, R. L., Tsujii, H., Imai, R., Tsuji, H., Hug, E. B., Kanai, T., Lu, J. J., Debus, J., Engenhart-Cabillic, R., & Mahajan, A. (2022). The majority of United States citizens with cancer do not have access to carbon ion radiotherapy. Frontiers in Oncology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.954747
13.How chemotherapy works. (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved January 3, 2024, from https://www.webmd.com/cancer/how-chemo-works
14.Li, J.-Y., Li, J.-W., Jin, Y.-C., Li, M.-X., Guo, L.-P., Bing, Z.-T., Zhang, Q.-N., Bai, F., Wang, X.-H., Li, X.-X., & Yang, K.-H. (2021). The efficacy and safety of carbon ion radiotherapy for meningiomas: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Oncology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.620534
15.Radiation therapy 95% effective for prostate cancer treatment. (2015, February 20). Targeting Cancer. https://www.targetingcancer.com.au/2015/02/radiation-therapy-95-effective-prostate-cancer/
16.Paravati, A. J., Boero, I. J., Triplett, D. P., Hwang, L., Matsuno, R. K., Xu, B., Mell, L. K., & Murphy, J. D. (2015). Variation in the cost of radiation therapy among medicare patients with cancer. Journal of Oncology Practice, 11(5), 403–409. https://doi.org/10.1200/jop.2015.005694
17.Radiation therapy for cancer. (2015, April 29). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy 1
18.Heidelberg University Hospital: Proton therapy and carbon ion therapy. (n.d.). Heidelberg-university-hospital.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024, from https://www.heidelberg-university-hospital.com/diseases-treatments/cancer-and-tumor-diseases/proton-therapy-and-carbon-ion-therapy
20.Alford, J. (2018, April 18). Science Surgery: ‘Do we all have potentially cancerous cells in our bodies?’ Cancer Research UK - Cancer News. https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/04/18/science-surgery-do-we-all-have-potentially-cancerous-cells-in-our-bodies/
21.Marill, M. C. (2019, August 21). Why a promising, potent cancer therapy isn’t used in the US. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/why-a-promising-potent-cancer-therapy-isnt-used-in-the-us/

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Mr. Rip for facilitating this program. I would like to thank my father for helping me beautify my slides. I would thank my mother for helping me organize my trifold.