TY - JOUR
T1 - Radiosurgery with photons or protons for benign and malignant tumours of the skull base
T2 - A review
AU - Amichetti, Maurizio
AU - Amelio, Dante
AU - Minniti, Giuseppe
PY - 2012/12/14
Y1 - 2012/12/14
N2 - Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an important treatment option for intracranial lesions. Many studies have shown the effectiveness of photon-SRS for the treatment of skull base (SB) tumours; however, limited data are available for proton-SRS.Several photon-SRS techniques, including Gamma Knife, modified linear accelerators (Linac) and CyberKnife, have been developed and several studies have compared treatment plan characteristics between protons and photons.The principles of classical radiobiology are similar for protons and photons even though they differ in terms of physical properties and interaction with matter resulting in different dose distributions.Protons have special characteristics that allow normal tissues to be spared better than with the use of photons, although their potential clinical superiority remains to be demonstrated.A critical analysis of the fundamental radiobiological principles, dosimetric characteristics, clinical results, and toxicity of proton- and photon-SRS for SB tumours is provided and discussed with an attempt of defining the advantages and limits of each radiosurgical technique.
AB - Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an important treatment option for intracranial lesions. Many studies have shown the effectiveness of photon-SRS for the treatment of skull base (SB) tumours; however, limited data are available for proton-SRS.Several photon-SRS techniques, including Gamma Knife, modified linear accelerators (Linac) and CyberKnife, have been developed and several studies have compared treatment plan characteristics between protons and photons.The principles of classical radiobiology are similar for protons and photons even though they differ in terms of physical properties and interaction with matter resulting in different dose distributions.Protons have special characteristics that allow normal tissues to be spared better than with the use of photons, although their potential clinical superiority remains to be demonstrated.A critical analysis of the fundamental radiobiological principles, dosimetric characteristics, clinical results, and toxicity of proton- and photon-SRS for SB tumours is provided and discussed with an attempt of defining the advantages and limits of each radiosurgical technique.
KW - Protons
KW - Skull base
KW - Stereotactic radiosurgery
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U2 - 10.1186/1748-717X-7-210
DO - 10.1186/1748-717X-7-210
M3 - Article
C2 - 23241206
AN - SCOPUS:84870921778
VL - 7
JO - Radiation Oncology
JF - Radiation Oncology
SN - 1748-717X
IS - 1
M1 - 210
ER -