Protons in Radiation Therapy

The use of high-energy protons or other heavy charged particles makes possible substantially improved control of the geometric distribution of therapeutic radiations over that obtainable with supervoltage x rays or electrons and suggests the possibility of better clinical control of some types of malignant lesions and reduced complication rates. Sufficient clinical experience with protons has already been obtained to show that their effects are not markedly different from those of high-voltage x rays if equal rad doses are compared.