Heavy Particle Beams and Their Clinical Application

Opening of the article

The heavy particle beam therapies deployed in radiotherapy have physical and radiobiological characateristics which differ from those of conventional photon beams and which offer a number of theoretical advantages over photon beams. This review briefly describes the properties and indications for heavy particle beam therapy and analyses various clinical studies conducted in this field. The analysis indicates that for select tumours (uveal melanomas and base skull/spinal chordomas and chondrosarcomas) heavy particle beam produces greater loco-regional control and disease free survival.