Simultaneous integrated boost and protection proton beam therapy approach for hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose: Although simultaneous integrated boost and protection with proton beam therapy (SIB-PBT) facilitates tumor dose escalation while maintaining organ-at-risk (OAR) dose constraints, clinical outcomes are limited. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of using the SIB-PBT technique in hep...

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Main Authors: Kanokphorn Thonglert, Matthew D. Greer, Stephanie K. Schaub, Stephen R. Bowen, Anthony M. Menghini, Matthew J. Nyflot, Clemens Grassberger, Joseph Tsai, Peter Zaki, Edward Y. Kim, Tony Wong, Smith Apisarnthanarax
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405630825001004
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Summary:Purpose: Although simultaneous integrated boost and protection with proton beam therapy (SIB-PBT) facilitates tumor dose escalation while maintaining organ-at-risk (OAR) dose constraints, clinical outcomes are limited. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of using the SIB-PBT technique in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Methods: We reviewed 47 patients with HCC who underwent SIB-PBT between 2014–2021. The radiation dose ranged from 36-67.5 Gy(RBE) in 15 fractions. SIB-PBT was used for the following reasons: minimize high-dose exposure to organs-at-risk (OARs) (n = 22, 47 %), treat targets with different dose levels (n = 6, 13 %), or both (n = 19, 40 %). Survival, local control, and toxicities were assessed using Kaplan-Meier, Fine-Gray cumulative incidence, and descriptive statistics, respectively. Results: Forty-one patients (87 %) had tumors located ≤2 cm from luminal gastrointestinal (GI) OARs. The median tumor diameter was 9.2 cm (range, 2.0–21.5 cm). The median EQD2 D50%, D95% and D99% of gross tumor volume were 79.8 (range, 51.1–85.9), 66.7 (range, 36.9–84.6) and 50.2 (range, 34.1–83.6) Gy(RBE)10, respectively. Most patients (91 %) received a D0.5 cc of <45 Gy(RBE) to luminal GI OARs. At a median follow-up of 22 months (range, 0.8–77.0 months), the 2-year cumulative incidence of local failure was 12 %. The 2-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 12 % (95 % CI 4.7–23.4 %), and 49 % (95 % CI, 33.2–63.2 %), respectively. One patient experienced grade 3 acute nausea/vomiting. No GI bleeding/ulcers or grade 4 + toxicity were observed. CP + 2 occurred in 5 patients. Conclusion: SIB-PBT enables OAR protection along with heterogeneous tumor dose escalation and is a safe and effective treatment for HCC tumors.
ISSN:2405-6308