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Updated: Nov 29, 2025
Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
Concurrent Chemo-Proton Therapy Using Adaptive Planning for Unresectable Stage 3 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase
Hiromitsu Iwata1, Kenji Akita2, Yusuke Yamaba2
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Nagoya Proton Therapy Center, Nagoya City West Medical Center, Nagoya, Japan; Department of Radiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Purpose:
This study prospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of concurrent chemo-proton therapy (CCPT) using adaptive planning for unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods And Materials:
The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were local control rate (LCR), progression-free survival (PFS), incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events, and changes in quality of life (QOL). Patients received cisplatin (60 mg/m2) on day 1 and S-1 (∼40 mg/m2 twice daily) on days 1 to 14, q4w, for up to 4 cycles, plus concurrent proton therapy at a total dose of 70 GyRBE for the primary lesion and 66 GyRBE for lymph node metastasis with 2 GyRBE per day. Proton therapy was performed using respiratory-gated and image guided techniques, and adaptive plans were implemented.
Results:
Forty-seven patients were enrolled between August 2013 and August 2018. Four cycles of cisplatin plus S-1 were completed in 34 patients. The mean number of cycles was 4 (range, 1-4). The median follow-up of all and surviving patients was 37 (range, 4-84) and 52 months (range, 26-84), respectively. The mean number of replanning sessions was 2.5 (range, 1-4). The 2- and 5-year OS, LCR, and PFS were 77% (95% confidence interval 64%-89%) and 59% (43%-76%), 84% (73%-95%) and 61% (44%-78%), and 43% (28%-57%) and 37% (22%-51%), respectively. The median OS was not reached. No grade 3 or higher radiation pneumonitis was observed. There was no significant deterioration in the QOL scores after 24 months except for alopecia.
Conclusions:
CCPT with adaptive planning was well tolerated and yielded remarkable OS for unresectable stage III NSCLC.
