Proton Therapy for Childhood Cancers

At MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center, we collaborate with all of the cooperative groups for pediatric cancer, including the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium. Our physicians worked with COG to refine proton radiation guidelines for the organization’s protocols.Proton therapy radiation is now an acceptable form of radiation treatment for nearly all COG clinical trials that call for radiation therapy.

The Pediatric Proton Consortium Registry (PPCR) was established in 2012 to expedite proton outcomes research to assure access to those pediatric patients who can benefit the most from it. It is the most comprehensive multi-institutional radiation based patient registry in existence and unique in its scope and depth.

Registry for Pediatric Patients Treated With Proton Radiation Therapy

NCT01696721 - In previous studies, Proton Beam Radiation Therapy (PBRT) has been found to show better results in treating patients with cancer, both because there is better control of where in the body the radiation is directed and because it is associated with less severe long term side effects. However, there is limited published data demonstrating these results. The goal of the Pediatric Proton Consortium Registry (PPCR) is to enroll children treated with proton radiation in the United States in order to describe the population that currently receives protons and better evaluate its benefits over other therapies. The data collected from this study will help facilitate research on proton beam radiation therapy and allow for collaborative research. The PPCR will collect demographic and clinical data that many centers that deliver proton radiation therapy already collect in routine operations.

For more information, please contact:
Nancy Philip, MD Anderson Clinical Studies Coordinator
Tel: 713-563-9322