What Types of Cancers are Best Suited for Proton Therapy?

Proton therapy can be used to treat about 80% of all cancers that affect children. This treatment is a best fit for solid tumors with a well-defined shape that have not spread to other parts of the body. These include:

Brain and spinal tumors
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  • Astrocytoma
  • Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT)
  • Craniopharyngioma
  • Ependymoma
  • Intracranial germ cell tumors (germinoma)
  • Low grade glioma
  • Medulloblastoma
  • Meningioma
  • Optic nerve tumors
  • Optic pathway/hypothalamic glioma
  • Primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor (intracranial PNET)
  • Retinoblastoma
Solid tumors and sarcomas
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  • Chondrosarcoma
  • Chordoma
  • Ewing sarcoma
  • Neuroblastoma
  • Rhabdomyosarcoma 
  • Non-rhabdo soft tissue sarcomas, including: 
    • Angiosarcoma
    • Synovial sarcoma
    • Epithelioid sarcoma
    • Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor (DSRCT)
  • Tumors of the head and neck
  • Wilms tumor
Lymphomas
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  • Hodgkin’s
  • Non-Hodgkin’s