Proton therapy outperformed photon therapy among patients with oropharyngeal cancer, according to a study published Jan. 10 in The Lancet.
Researchers from 21 U.S. cancer centers conducted a phase 3 trial of 440 patients with oropharyngeal cancer. Patients were randomized to receive either photon or proton therapy alongside standard chemotherapy.
Here are three notes from the study:
- After five years, 91% of patients who received proton therapy were alive, compared with 81% of patients treated with photon therapy.
- Patients who received proton therapy were less likely to experience severe side effects often associated with photon therapy treatment of oropharyngeal cancer, including lymphopenia, swallowing difficulties, dry mouth and gastrostomy tube dependence.
- “Proton therapy matched photon therapy in controlling cancer, but with fewer long-term side effects and better long-term outcomes,” Alexander Lin, MD, executive vice chair of the department of radiation oncology at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine and co-author of the study, said in a May 8 news release from Penn Medicine. “Patients with [oropharyngeal cancer] are likely to do well from a cancer standpoint, but they’re potentially going to live a long time with side effects from therapy. It’s our obligation to try to minimize those side effects.”
Read the full study here.
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