ABSTRACT
Cancer is the leading cause of early death. The number of cancer deaths recorded in 2012 was 8.2 million worldwide, with a projection to rise up to 13.0 million by 2030. Radiotherapy (RT) is a fundamental component of treating most of these cancers, alone or mostly as part of a course on an evidenced-based integrated approach with surgery and/or drugs. Particle therapy has solidified its indication for eye melanoma and other ocular tumours. There is substantial evidence to continue to support the clinical use and studies on particle therapy being modern RT devoted to realise very selective treatments. At the end of 2015, and from the beginning of particle therapy activities, more than 154,000 patients worldwide received charged particles, mainly by protons (more than 131,000). The Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) constantly updates the statistics on patients and centres, and, more than 70 centres are now treating patients, with the great majority, about 60, furnished with proton beams.
