Normal tissue tolerance amongst paediatric brain tumour patients- current evidence in proton radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND

Proton radiotherapy (PT) is used increasingly for paediatric brain cancer patients. However, as demonstrated here, the knowledge on normal tissue dose constraints, to minimize side-effects, for this cohort is limited.

METHODS

A search strategy was systematically conducted on MEDLINE® database. 65 papers were evaluated ranging from 2013 to 2021.

RESULTS

Large variations in normal tissue tolerance and toxicity reporting across PT studies makes estimation of normal tissue dose constraints difficult, with the potential for significant late effects to go unmeasured. Mean dose delivered to the pituitary gland varies from 20 to 30 Gy across literature. Similarly, the hypothalamic dose delivery ranges from 20 to 54.6 Gy for paediatric patients.

CONCLUSION

There is a significant lack of radiobiological data for paediatric brain cancer patients undergoing proton therapy, often using data from x-ray radiotherapy and adult populations. The way forward is through standardisation of reporting in order to validate relevant dose constraints.