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Oncology

Proton therapy

Radiation using proton particles instead of photons — better dose conformity for pediatric and certain adult tumours.

Proton beam therapy uses proton particles that deposit most of their energy at a controllable depth (the Bragg peak), reducing dose to tissue beyond the tumour. Strongest evidence: pediatric tumours, skull-base chordomas, ocular melanoma, re-irradiation, specific head-and-neck cases. For most prostate and breast cancers, randomized data shows no outcome advantage over IMRT despite 2-4× higher cost.

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