Precision strikes only on cancer cells? Usefulness of Heavy Particle TherapyProfessor Yong-Bae Kim, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Hospital

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. What is heavy particle therapy?

What is Heavy Particle Therapy?

 

In heavy particle therapy, 'heavy particles' refers to particles heavier than protons, such as neon and carbon. Typically, carbon particles are used. This treatment began in the early 2010s, and this year our country started heavy particle therapy limited to prostate cancer.

 

It consists of an accelerator system that accelerates carbon particles and a treatment chamber, and carbon ions enter the target site and destroy cancer cells.

 

Treatment is carried out 4~5 times a week every day, and the total number of treatments varies depending on the carcinoma. It is conducted 12 to 16 times, and it usually takes 5~7 weeks.

 

2. Differences with X-ray therapy

How is it different from X-ray therapy?

 

Heavy particle therapy has better tumor destruction capacity than X-ray therapy, and the radiation dose is lower. In addition, unlike X-rays, even small details such as folds in the skin can affect the results, so posture fixation is essential.

 

In addition, X-ray treatment requires the use of an electron gun that generates an electron beam, but heavy particles are heavy and require equipment to accelerate them.

 

3. Pros and Cons of Heavy Particle Therapy

What are the advantages and disadvantages of heavy particle therapy?

 

The advantages of heavy particle therapy include:

 

First, short turnaround time

Heavy particle therapy takes about 20~25 minutes per session. Even this, almost all of them are used to adjust the patient's posture, and the actual heavy particle irradiation time takes about 1~2 minutes. You can go to the hospital a set number of times and be treated without hospitalization.

 

Second, painless

Heavy particle therapy is a painless treatment. As a result of interviews with patients undergoing heavy particle therapy, they often did not feel anything and wondered if the treatment was going well.

 

Third, high precision

Heavy particle therapy has the characteristics of 'Bragg Peak*', which has less impact on normal tissues and precisely strikes only cancerous tissues.

*Bragg Peak: The cancer cells in the body give off most of their energy.

 

 

On the other hand, this heavy particle therapy also has a number of drawbacks.

 

First, it is a topical treatment and works only on the target area, so there is a small extent of cell damage, but there is a possibility of various side effects in the affected area because there is no damage at all.

 

 

Second, the cost of expensive treatment

It is quite expensive, about 4000~50 million won, and it is a huge burden on patients because it is unclear whether it will be covered by insurance.

Third, limited scope of use

Heavy particle therapy can only treat solid cancers such as prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer, and blood cancer or multiple metastatic cancer are not eligible for treatment.

 

4. Heavy particle therapy is effective for cancers

Are there any cancers for which heavy particle therapy is particularly effective?

 

Currently, the only type of carcinoma that is currently treated with heavy particles in Korea is prostate cancer. This is because prostate cancer is the most severe particle and is safe and effective to treat. This is because due to the anatomical position that takes into account the surrounding organs, only the left and right directions of the beam are required.

 

In addition, it has shown improved treatment results in osteosarcoma and pancreatic cancer, and has been confirmed to be effective in osteosarcoma and chordoma.

 

As such, we can expect heavy particle therapy, which is still undergoing a lot of research, to open a new history of cancer treatment.