Proton therapy

Danya Dubin: five years after proton therapy

The young pioneer patient from St. Petersburg treated at the first Russian proton center in 2018 is feeling well today.

The first Russian Proton Therapy Center built by the Berezin Sergey Medical Institute (MIBS) in St. Petersburg began to actively treat cancer patients with the country’s breakthrough radiation technique in January 2018. Today, among the patients of the center there are those who have crossed or are about to cross the five-year milestone since their proton therapy treatment. The five-year recurrence-free period is considered a clinically significant indicator in oncology.

Three thousandth patient of the first Russian Center for Proton Therapy

The bell in the Berezin Sergei Medical Institute (MIBS) Proton center rang particularly loudly as its 3,000th patients beat it time after time to celebrate the completion of his therapy. Another milestone almost coincided with the five-year anniversary of the Center, which opened its doors on September 23, 2017, becoming the first clinical center for proton therapy in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

US experts have identified new directions in proton therapy

The National Proton Therapy Association (NAPT) recently hosted the annual National Proton Conference for physicians, managers, physicists and other professionals from proton therapy institutions from across the United States.

Proton therapy of a pregnant patient

Radiation therapy during pregnancy is rarely prescribed due to the lack of medical data and practical difficulties associated with the treatment procedure. The first detailed report on the use of proton therapy as a cancer treatment method in a pregnant patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (nasopharyngeal carcinoma) was published on PubMed. The clinical case was described by a group of doctors from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, the University of Groningen and the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium.

The widow of a patient who was denied proton therapy by insurers received $200 million in court

A jury in the United States recently awarded $40 million in damages and $160 million in punitive payments to the family of a Las Vegas resident who died after being denied proton cancer treatment.

Proton beam therapy is increasingly being used to treat cancer

According to a study published in the journal JAMA Oncology, the use of proton beam therapy (PLT) in the United States continues to grow. Researchers noted an increase in the use of proton beam therapy in the period from 2004 to 2018, especially in oncological diseases, the effectiveness of treatment with PLT is still being studied.

Proton therapy has become more affordable in the USA. But not for everyone

Two major new studies conducted by scientists from the American Cancer Society (ACS) indicate an increase in the use of proton radiation therapy (PLT) for the treatment of cancer patients in the United States over the past decade. However, black patients were less likely to receive PLT than whites, and racial inequality is growing. The results of the study were published in the JAMA Network Open.

Proton therapy for inflammatory breast cancer: research

Treatment of inflammatory breast cancer is a difficult problem for radiotherapists due to the lesion of cutaneous lymphatic vessels, which often requires the coverage of large volumes of targets and booster doses in the chest wall area. This feature of the disease makes the use of advanced planning methods especially attractive - because of the ability to reduce the impact of radiation doses on nearby organs.

The start of the study of FLASH radiotherapy for breast cancer

IBA (Ion Beam Applications SA, EURONEXT), a world leader in the development of particle accelerator technologies, and the University Medical Center of the University of Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands, announced the conclusion of a four-year cooperation agreement in the field of research aimed at developing a new FLASH radiotherapy protocol for the treatment of breast cancer in the early stages.

Three years after the protons: the ependymoma has receded and George is now living the ordinary life of a schoolboy

"Now the son wears an original hairstyle that covers the traces of surgery, goes in for sports, loves cool cars and makes eyes at girls. Everything is like ordinary guys!", - writes Valentina Tedeeva in the comments to the photos of eight-year-old George.