Project Lead Claudia Wild
Authors: Claudia Wild, Ozren Sehic
Publication: June 2020
Language: German (with English summary)
Worldwide, 82 particle therapy facilities are currently in clinical operation; further 37 centers are under construction or in planning. This means that the number of centres worldwide has more than doubled since 2013. In Europe alone, 27 centres are currently operational (2013: 14). With such a large number of treatment centers, it should be assumed that the underlying clinical evidence on patient benefit is convincing. The update of the LBI-HTA report 2013 has the task to give an overview of secured indications as well as indications that are only recommended under clinical research. Only a hand search for HTA reviews and systematic reviews was conducted. The identified reviews articulate in unison that the available - mostly retrospective - studies are of low quality and insufficient to make conclusive statements on the added value of proton or carbon ion therapy. Only a few indications are recommended for proton or carbon ion therapy (chordomas and chondrosarcomas, uveamelanoma, pediatric tumors in the base of the skull, brain and head and neck tumors) to avoid secondary tumors. Further indications, with curative intention and non-metastatic, are only recommended under conditions of prospective clinical studies.