| ▲ | somethingsome 3 hours ago | |
As a non expert, I can't pronounce myself on the subject, I found this recent study: https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/research-newsroom/proton... But on the subject of discoveries and practical uses, the IBA cyclotrons are also used for other purposes than proton therapy: cleaning exotic fruits from dangerous substances and personalized medicine. | ||
| ▲ | bonsai_spool an hour ago | parent [-] | |
This may be one of the good cases, then. I'm not an expert in cancer but I am a biologist and physician. The head and neck cancer (here) and various pediatric indications get the most attention but it has felt that proton therapy has been seeking an indication for almost 40 years now. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6... The study was designed to show non-inferiority, which doesn't preclude their ability to show an improvement. It would be helpful to see other studies before determining that proton therapy is better (or even non-inferior) to radiation therapy. It's certainly much more expensive, which shows up in the study as many subjects being denied insurance coverage. Edit: This is now in the weeds, but the per-protocol participants didn't fare better than the intention-to-treat participants, which one might expect since insurance approval lead to dozens of subjects changing treatment arms. | ||