Nina Niu Sanford: My take on protons and approach to discussing with patients
Nina Niu Sanford, Assistant Professor and Chief of Gastrointestinal Radiation Oncology at Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital, shared a post on X:
“New YouTube video on protons!
If you care for pts with cancer, you’ve probably been asked re: protons.
In 8 min, I provide background, my thoughts, including how I approach discussion with patients.
Welcome any feedback!
What is the rationale for protons? I explain the Bragg peak. Important to note protons have similar ‘potency’ to photons (unlike heavy particles such as carbon which are more potent), so potential benefit is in normal tissue sparing.
There are downsides/limitations to protons. Cost/access certainly, but also other nuances explained in video.
Protons are heavily marketed and some of this is misleading.
Where are we with the data? In case anyone thinks I’m a proton hater, here is a retrospective study I did for protons in HCC.
How I discuss with a patient – 3 parts: rationale, data, and synthesis/recommendation.
Closing thoughts here. Like anything, protons are not all good or all bad.
Hopefully, this short video provides some information to guide in counselling patients for their individual scenario.”
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