19 research outputs found
Gastrointestinal Malignancies
The presence of dose-limiting hepatic and renal parenchyma, as well as bowel adjacent to the tumor, have provided the rationale for use of charged particles in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. The most extensive experience has been in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), but esophageal, rectal, and pancreatic lesions have also been treated. Japanese investigators have accumulated experience with both protons and carbon ions for these tumors. Experts from Tsukuba University and the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba have collaborated on this chapter to share their experience. One third of the 1,556 patients treated with proton beam therapy (PBT) at Tsukuba as of March 2006 had HCC. To date, approximately 2,800 patients have been treated with carbon ion beams at NIRS, 14% of whom have had gastrointestinal malignancies including HCC, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, and pelvic recurrence of rectal cancer after surgery (see Table 19.1