ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S1906

Clinical - Mixed sites, palliation

ESTRO 2024

SCOPUS and Web of Science databases using the term ‘carbon ion radiotherapy’ in the title, abstract or author keywords.

Results:

After critical appraisal, data was extracted from 78 primary study papers. Tumour sites covered by these are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of tumour sites included in review Strong evidence

Conflicting evidence

Weak evidence

Chondrosarcoma

Liver

Oesophagus

Chordoma

Pancreas

Paediatric

cancers

Nasopharynx

Central nervous system Uterine cervix

Small-cell

lung

Non-small-cell lung

Osteosarcoma

Oral cavity

Kidney

Prostate

Rectum Salivary gland

Strong evidence supported the use of CIRT for chondrosarcoma, chordoma, nasopharyngeal, non-small cell lung cancer, oral cavity, prostate, rectal and salivary gland tumours. These tumour sites were associated with significant gains in overall survival, tumour control and progression-free survival. The high incidence rates for some of these tumour sites suggests a large potential patient population who may benefit from a CIRT centre. Further research is needed to strengthen the evidence base for some other tumour types. Promising overall survival and tumour control rates were identified for pancreatic tumours; with the generally poor prognosis for this group, more research is warranted. Data published relating to CIRT for many tumour sites is promising but of lower quality and of a smaller volume, thus more research is needed in these areas. No high-quality papers were found exploring the use of CIRT for paediatric patients; this, may be due to the prevalence of proton therapy in these cohorts. Much of the published evidence was retrospective in nature with many papers exhibiting small sample sizes. There were few randomized controlled trials directly comparing modalities and a range of outcome measures were used.

Conclusion:

The results strongly suggest that a CIRT centre in the UK could improve survivorship for patients with chondrosarcoma, chordoma, nasopharyngeal, non-small cell lung cancer, oral cavity, prostate, rectal or salivary gland tumours, supporting Kirkby et al’s 2020 proposal4. Investment in a UK CIRT research centre would improve outcomes for these tumour sites, as well as contribute to the existing body of research related to tumour sites with less robust evidence.