Executive summary

A review by University of Gothenburg, Sweden. After screening 601 publications, nine articles were deemed eligible for in-depth analysis. This review found that proton treatment plans compared favorably to photon-plans regarding dose to uninvolved neural tissue. Fatigue (27-100%), alopecia (37-85%), local erythema (78-85%) and headache (27-75%) were among the most common acute toxicities after proton therapy.

One study reported no significant long-term cognitive impairments. Limited data was available on long-term survival. One study reported a 5-year overall survival of 84% and 5-year progression-free survival of 40%. This review concluded that published data from clinical studies using proton therapy for adults with LGG are scarce, and controlled clinical studies are urgently warranted to determine if the potential benefits based on comparative treatment planning translate into clinical benefits

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