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Radiation Oncology
Published in: Radiation Oncology 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Review

Radiosurgery with photons or protons for benign and malignant tumours of the skull base: a review

Authors: Maurizio Amichetti, Dante Amelio, Giuseppe Minniti

Published in: Radiation Oncology | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an important treatment option for intracranial lesions. Many studies have shown the effectiveness of photon-SRS for the treatment of skull base (SB) tumours; however, limited data are available for proton-SRS.
Several photon-SRS techniques, including Gamma Knife, modified linear accelerators (Linac) and CyberKnife, have been developed and several studies have compared treatment plan characteristics between protons and photons.
The principles of classical radiobiology are similar for protons and photons even though they differ in terms of physical properties and interaction with matter resulting in different dose distributions.
Protons have special characteristics that allow normal tissues to be spared better than with the use of photons, although their potential clinical superiority remains to be demonstrated.
A critical analysis of the fundamental radiobiological principles, dosimetric characteristics, clinical results, and toxicity of proton- and photon-SRS for SB tumours is provided and discussed with an attempt of defining the advantages and limits of each radiosurgical technique.
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Metadata
Title
Radiosurgery with photons or protons for benign and malignant tumours of the skull base: a review
Authors
Maurizio Amichetti
Dante Amelio
Giuseppe Minniti
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Radiation Oncology / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1748-717X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-717X-7-210

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