Should patients requiring radiotherapy for breast cancer be treated with proton beam therapy?

What you need to knowProton beam therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons (high energy charged particles) rather than standard x ray radiotherapy, to treat cancerThere are no randomised trial data supporting the routine use of proton beam therapy in patients with breast cancer, however the treatment can be more accurately targeted than x rays, potentially reducing risks of side effects in organs such as the heartA small cohort of breast cancer patients has a higher-than-average lifetime risk of radiation induced heart disease, and may benefit from proton beam therapyMore than 2.3 million new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. In the UK, around 56 000 people receive a diagnosis of breast cancer each year, of which around two thirds receive radiotherapy.1Current standard care for breast cancer is x ray radiotherapy, which reduces the risk of relapse by…
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