Proton therapy for breast cancer
We would like to introduce the details of proton therapy for breast cancer.
- 01.
- Which cases of breast cancer can be applied with proton therapy?
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In the case of early breast cancer
After the breast conserving operation, the proton therapy can be applied when radiotherapy is needed to treat partial sites for early breast cancer patients.
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In the case of progressive breast cancer
Proton therapy can be applied to treat progressive breast cancers including internal mammary lymph nodes.
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When the treatment is for palliative purposes
Proton therapy can be applied for large breast cancers or in cases where the disease has progressed and radiotherapy is needed for a large treatment site that is associated with high risks of damaging the nearby normal organs.
[Risks of side effects in the surrounding organs increases during breast cancer radiotherapy]
- 02.
- What are the advantages of proton therapy when treating breast cancer?
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It can minimize the radiation exposure to the surrounding normal organs.
In the case of partial breast cancer radiotherapy, it has an advantage of decreasing the level of transferred radiation to closely located organs such as the lungs and heart compared to the existing method of radiotherapy.
When treating progressive breast cancer, X-ray treatments transfer unneeded radiation to the lungs and heart, in the case lymph nodes are included in the site for treatment. However, proton therapy minimized the radiation transferred to the lungs and heart. This advantage becomes more effective when treating left-sided breast cancer which is located close to the heart.
[Proton Therapy compared to the X-ray treatments to treat breast cancer]
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