Proton Therapy and Sarcomas
The nature of bone and soft tissue sarcomas makes them ideal candidates for treatment with proton therapy. Since these tumors are often located near sensitive tissues and require high doses for cure, it's important to treat them with the most precise type of radiation possible. According to the 2009 sarcoma guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), proton therapy may offer a therapeutic advantage over traditional radiation techniques.
Proton therapy has successfully been used to treat a variety of sarcomas with a low incidence of side effects.
To learn more about other benefits of treating cancers with proton therapy, visit the About Proton Therapy and The Benefits of Proton Therapy sections of our site.
By eliminating the "exit dose," most of the proton radiation is released only at the site of the sarcoma. This means that higher doses of radiation can be used to treat bone and soft tissue sarcomas causing minimal damage to other healthy tissues.
Proton therapy can be used to treat many kinds of sarcoma, including sarcoma in children:
- chondrosarcoma / chondrogenic sarcomas
- osteosarcoma /osteogenic sarcomas
- Ewing's sarcoma
- synovial cell sarcoma
- liposarcomas
- leiomyosarcomas
- rhabdomyosarcomas
- giant cell tumors
- desmoid tumors/ aggressive fibromatosis
- malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH)
- angiosarcoma
- malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs)
- alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS)
- clear cell sarcoma (CCS)
