Pencil Beam Continued

A New Frontier for Proton Therapy
Proton therapy derives its advantage over conventional forms of radiation from its ability to deliver radiation doses to a targeted tumor with remarkable precision that avoids the surrounding tissue, generates fewer side effects and improves tumor control. Most proton patients are treated with a form of therapy known as passive scattering which uses apertures to shape the proton beam and deliver a uniform dose to the tumor. Since opening in the spring of 2006, M. D. Anderson’s Proton Therapy Center has treated more than 1,000 patients with this passive scattering technique.
Pencil beam for proton therapy delivers a single, narrow proton beam (about a centimeter in diameter) that is magnetically swept across the tumor, depositing the radiation dose like a painter’s brush strokes, without the need to construct beam shaping devices. The technology continues to build on the patient benefits already offered with proton therapy – more targeted, higher tumor dose, shorter treatment times, reduced side effects and increased treatment options – to treat complicated tumors perilously close to critical structures, such as the eye, brain and esophagus.
“The difference between passive scattering and pencil beam is like painting something with a can of spray paint versus using an airbrush,” said Andrew Lee, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at M. D. Anderson, and the director of the Proton Therapy Center. “Pencil beam is more like an airbrush. Instead of needing a stencil to master the shape, the proton beam is made ultra fine to define the contours and landscape of a tumor.”

One more article tomorrow about this amazing technology.
Have a good Tuesday.
Blessings,
Rick