MO‐A‐108‐01: The Impact of Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy On Proton Therapy?

One of the major controversies surrounding proton therapy is that despite the high cost of proton therapy relative to conventional x‐ray radiotherapy, the clinical benefit of proton therapy has not been clearly demonstrated in the literature. The majority of clinical studies comparing proton and photon therapy have compared passive scattering proton therapy (PSPT) with intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). However, the delivery of proton therapy, while predominantly in the form of PSPT, is likely to be superseded by intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Improvement in dose distribution by IMPT in a representative series of patients compared to IMRT has been reported. It appears that IMPT will have the opportunity to justify adopting the proton therapy in the routine care for majority disease.This session will begin with a short introduction explaining the current state of the art for IMPT. This introduction will be followed by four presentations. The first presentation will cover the efficacy of proton therapy for prostate cancer from a clinician's point of view. The second presentation will provide more detail on the current state of the art for proton therapy, introduce future research directions for IMPT technology, and address the impact of the research on proton therapy. The third presentation will cover the clinical and operational reasoning behind an all‐scanning‐beam facility and the expertise needed to build such a facility. In the fourth presentation, a physicist and a physician will present their center's experience with implementing IMPT techniques for lung, head and neck, and central nervous system tumors and present relevant clinical protocols and data. Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the current machine delivery systems and treatment planning, quality assurance, and dose verification techniques for IMPT. 2. Explain the clinical efficacy and cost‐effectiveness of proton therapy. 3. Differentiate the capabilities of IMPT from those of PSPT and IMRT and explain how the unique capabilities of IMPT improve the clinical efficacy and cost‐effectiveness of proton therapy. 4. Provide examples of working clinical protocols, workflow, and quality assurance procedures for the use of IMPT in routine patient care.