Why Choose Proton Therapy for Malignant Lymphomas

In order to select the optimal treatment, it is imperative to get complete and comprehensible information. Find out not only about the most modern treatment methods for malignant lymphomas, also known as cancer of the lymph nodes, but also about the side effects associated with the treatment. They may significantly affect the quality of your life during and after treatment.

Advantages of proton therapy in the irradiation of lymphomas compared to conventional radiotherapy:

• Reduced doses of undesirable radiation to the heart, and lower risk of late radiotherapy sequelae such as valvular defects, ischaemic heart disease, arrhythmia, etc.
• Reduced doses to the pulmonary tissue with a lower risk of post-radiation pulmonary fibrosis (tissue thickening), pulmonary inflammation, etc.
• Reduced doses to the spinal cord with a lower risk of post-radiation myelopathy (motor and sensory deficits).
• Reduced doses to the mammary glands with a lower risk of secondary tumours of the mammary gland.

At present, malignant lymphomas are irradiated by photon or proton radiotherapy. The difference rests with the physical properties of individual types of radiation, which determine their behaviour in tissues.

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The diagram shows the radiation dose distribution in the body when using proton vs. photon therapies.

It is apparent that the proton beam irradiates only the target volume (the area where the tumour is or was located), i.e. the radiation is targeted almost exclusively to the affected tissue. On the contrary, photon radiation, owing to its physical properties, significantly affects also the surrounding area of the healthy structure.