ArticleThe British journal of radiology2022
Estimating the percentage of patients who might benefit from proton beam therapy instead of X-ray radiotherapy.
Article in The British journal of radiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy and safety of particle therapy for inoperable stage II-III non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Advancing Particle Therapy to Improve Cancer Care: Report on "2nd World Forum on Particle Therapy".International journal of particle therapy · 2026Review
- [Mechanistic research progress on radiotherapy resistance of cancer stem cells].Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2025Review
- The proton therapy research beamline at the Christie NHS foundation trust.Biomedical physics & engineering express · 2025Article
- Physiopathological effects of entrance versus distal spread-out Bragg peak on mouse spinal cord neurons.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Radiotherapy intensification for atypical and malignant meningiomas: A systematic review.Neuro-oncology practice · 2024Review
- Failure patterns of locoregional recurrence after reducing target volumes in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma receiving adaptive replanning during intensity-modulated radiotherapy: a single-center experience in China.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Article
- Proton therapy (PT) combined with concurrent chemotherapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer with negative driver genes.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Article
- Risk of temporal lobe necrosis between proton beam and volumetric modulated arc therapies in patients with different head and neck cancers.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Article
- Proton radiotherapy as a treatment strategy to increase survival in locally advanced pancreatic cancer in the body and tail: a retrospective study.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Article
- Proton beam therapy in multimodal treatment for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
45 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesHigh-energy Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) commenced in England in 2018 and NHS England commissions PBT for 1.5% of patients receiving radical radiotherapy. We sought expert opinion on the level of provision.
methodsInvitations were sent to 41 colleagues working in PBT, most at one UK centre, to contribute by completing a spreadsheet. 39 responded: 23 (59%) completed the spreadsheet; 16 (41%) declined, arguing that clinical outcome data are lacking, but joined six additional site-specialist oncologists for two consensus meetings. The spreadsheet was pre-populated with incidence data from Cancer Research UK and radiotherapy use data from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. 'Mechanisms of Benefit' of reduced growth impairment, reduced toxicity, dose escalation and reduced second cancer risk were examined.
resultsThe most reliable figure for percentage of radical radiotherapy patients likely to benefit from PBT was that agreed by 95% of the 23 respondents at 4.3%, slightly larger than current provision. The median was 15% (range 4-92%) and consensus median 13%. The biggest estimated potential benefit was from reducing toxicity, median benefit to 15% (range 4-92%), followed by dose escalation median 3% (range 0 to 47%); consensus values were 12 and 3%. Reduced growth impairment and reduced second cancer risk were calculated to benefit 0.5% and 0.1%.
conclusionsThe most secure estimate of percentage benefit was 4.3% but insufficient clinical outcome data exist for confident estimates. The study supports the NHS approach of using the evidence base and developing it through randomised trials, non-randomised studies and outcomes tracking. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Less is known about the percentage of patients who may benefit from PBT than is generally acknowledged. Expert opinion varies widely. Insufficient clinical outcome data exist to provide robust estimates. Considerable further work is needed to address this, including international collaboration; much is already underway but will take time to provide mature data.
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