Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Doyle Lindrud2015
Doyle Lindrud2015
P
tion to normal surrounding tissues and
roton beam therapy is one of the ation is an important component of many
the possible safe escalation of radiation
latest advancements in radiation treatment regimens for pediatric cancers,
doses to enhance tumor control (Daw &
therapy used to treat cancer. Al- it is associated with early and late side
Mahajan, 2013; Swisher-McClure, Hahn,
though initially proposed in 1946, the effects that can be more problematic
& Bekelman, 2015).
first patients were treated in 1958 at the in children because of their developing
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory organs and tissues (Armstrong, Stovall,
in California (Merchant & Farr, 2014; Mi- & Robison, 2010). The possible benefits Childhood Cancer
tin & Zietman, 2014). The use of proton of proton beam therapy are the reduction With multimodality therapies for pedi-
beam therapy in clinical practice has in dose to normal tissues and a reduction atric malignancies, the five-year survival
been slowly introduced but has gained in adverse effects of radiation treatment rate exceeds 80%. As many as 60%–90%
significant ground with increasing public (Merchant, 2013). of survivors of pediatric cancer expe-
awareness since 2010 (Mitin & Zietman, rience adverse side effects related to
2014). One of the reasons this form of
radiation has garnered interest is because
Background the cancer or the treatment received
(Geenen et al., 2007). The challenge for
of theoretical advantages as compared to Radiation therapy for patients with the pediatric cancer population with
photon therapy, with specific potential cancer commonly uses external beam solid tumors undergoing radiation is the
advantages in the pediatric population. delivery techniques that include photons. large, irregular volume of tumors close
About 12,000 new cases of pediatric This form of ionizing radiation releases to critical structures in the body. In addi-
cancer occur each year in the United energy and delivers radiation doses to tion, children, when compared to adults,
States, and about 3,000 require radiation the specific areas of a patient’s body. have longer anticipated life spans and an
therapy (Merchant, 2013). Although radi- The standard dose of radiation is the increased sensitivity to the radiation from
Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing • Volume 19, Number 5 • Tech Savvy 521
100
investigators that proton References
therapy is well tolerated
and may hold therapeutic Armstrong, G.T., Stovall, M., & Robison,
80 benefit with certain types L.L. (2010). Long-term effects of radia-
of tumors, such as central tion exposure among adult survivors of
6 MV
Dose (%)
522 October 2015 • Volume 19, Number 5 • Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing
Moriarty, J.P., Borah, B.J., Foote, R.L., Pulido, of Pediatrics, 40, 74. doi:10.1186/s13052 Zhang, R., Howell, R.M., Homann, K., Gie-
J.S., & Shah, N.D. (2015). Cost-effectiveness -014-0074-6 beler, A., Taddei, P.J., Mahajan, A., &
of proton beam therapy for intraocular Swisher-McClure, S., Hahn, S.M., & Bekel- Newhauser, W.D. (2013). Predicted risks
melanoma. PLoS One, 10, e0127814. man, J. (2015). Proton beam therapy: of radiogenic cardiac toxicity in two
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127814 The next disruptive innovation in health- pediatric patients undergoing photon or
Palm, A., & Johansson, K.A. (2007). A re- care? Postgraduate Medical Journal, 91, proton radiotherapy. Radiation Oncol-
view of the impact of photon and proton 241–243. ogy, 8, 184. doi:10.1186/1748-717X-8-184
external beam radiotherapy treatment
modalities on the dose distribution in
field and out-of-field; implications for
the long-term morbidity of cancer sur-
Do You Have an Interesting Topic to Share?
vivors. Acta Oncologica, 46, 462–473.
doi:10.1080/02841860701218626 Tech Savvy discusses the ways in which technology affects nurses, patients, the
Rombi, B., Vennarini, S., Vinante, L., Rav- healthcare team, and the oncology setting. Length should be no more than 1,000–1,500
anelli, D., & Amichetti, M. (2014). Proton words, exclusive of tables, figures, insets, and references. If interested, contact Associate
radiotherapy for pediatric tumors: Review Editor Susan Doyle-Lindrud, DNP, AOCNP®, DCC, at smd9@columbia.edu.
of first clinical results. Italian Journal
Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing • Volume 19, Number 5 • Tech Savvy 523