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兒童與青少年腫瘤質子治療優勢

文／放射腫瘤部醫師林亭君

已有研究指出，質子治療（Proton Therapy）在兒童與青少年腫瘤中，能有助於降低非必要之低放射劑量範圍，進而減少正常組織所承受的輻射傷害(圖一)。

傳統光子治療（Photon Therapy）在穿透人體時，能量會一路釋放至腫瘤附近，影響到健康且仍在成長的組織與器官(圖二.四)。這些不必要的放射劑量在兒童與青少年身上，可能導致成長期間聽力及視力受損、牙齒及骨骼發育不良、認知功能發展障礙、內分泌系統異常與增加第二癌症的風險。

質子治療是運用質子束，在設定治療部位上釋放最高能量，且幾乎不再往後延伸，減少到處散射的不必要劑量，所以能大幅降低對周圍健康組織與器官的傷害(圖三)。長期來說，能有助於減少因放射治療對生長發育之影響。

整體而言，質子治療對於兒童與青少年的成長發育影響較低，亦可降低未來成年後發生放射線相關後遺症之風險，因此質子治療被視為兒童與青少年放射治療的重要優先選項之一。目前健保已納入給付範圍，可經由專業放射腫瘤醫師評估安排。

照射劑量分佈圖

文獻佐證

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