%0 Journal Article
%T Particle Beam Therapy for Cancer of the Skull Base, Nasal Cavity, and Paranasal Sinus
%A Nobuyoshi Fukumitsu
%J ISRN Otolaryngology
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/965204
%X Particle beam therapy has been rapidly developed in these several decades. Proton and carbon ion beams are most frequently used in particle beam therapy. Proton and carbon ion beam radiotherapy have physical and biological advantage to the conventional photon radiotherapy. Cancers of the skull base, nasal cavity, and paranasal sinus are rare; however these diseases can receive the benefits of particle beam radiotherapy. This paper describes the clinical review of the cancer of the skull base, nasal cavity, and paranasal sinus treated with proton and carbon ion beams, adding some information of feature and future direction of proton and carbon ion beam radiotherapy. 1. Introduction Particle beam therapy was first proposed in the 1940s [1] and was investigated in the USA, Sweden, and the Soviet Union in the 1950¨C1960s. In the 1970s, particle beam therapy was rapidly developed in parallel with the development of X-ray computed tomography. Globally, more than 48,000 patients have been treated with particle beams. Most of these treatments were delivered using proton and carbon ion radiotherapy (RT). Currently, there are 36 particle beam therapy facilities in operation (proton: 33, carbon ion: 5, both particles: 2), according to the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group homepage. Ten facilities are located in the USA, followed by eight in Japan, three in Germany, three in Russia, two in France, and 10 in other countries (Table 1). Table 1: Institution of particle beam therapy. This paper describes the status and prospects of particle beam therapy for the treatment of cancer of the skull base, nasal cavity, and paranasal sinus, including physical, biological, technical, and financial aspects. 2. Physical, Biological, Technical, and Financial Aspects of Particle Beam Therapy The physical, biological, technical, and financial aspects of particle beam therapy differ largely from those of conventional photon RT. 2.1. Physical Aspects Both proton and carbon ion beams have features that are extremely different from those of photons. Accelerated proton and carbon ion beams show an increase in energy deposition with penetration depth up to a sharp maximum followed by rapid decrease at the end of the penetration range; this phenomenon is known as the Bragg peak (Figure 1). The particle range is determined by the energy of the incoming particles, and the Bragg peak can be spread out. These features permit a more precise and conformal dose localization to the target, compared with photon beams. Figure 1: Relationship of depth and relative dose in photon, proton and carbon
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.otolaryngology/2012/965204/