NAPT supports and encourages cooperative research and innovation to advance the appropriate and cost-effective utilization of proton therapy.

Compared with photon therapy, proton therapy can deliver less toxic treatments, which allows for more aggressive treatments and higher cure rates in some cancers. In other types of cancers, proton therapy reduces costly hospitalizations and long-term side effects compared with photon therapy. Less toxicity to healthy tissues is simply better for patients in the short and long term.  There are over 900 published peer reviewed journal articles and numerous active clinical trials evaluating the benefits of proton therapy. The following is a small sample of recent research supporting the value of proton therapy.

Proton therapy has fewer side effects across all cancers than photon therapy, reducing costly side effects and hospitalizations during the course of treatment. Proton therapy better preserves quality of life across all cancers compared with photon therapy. Cancer survivors are living longer due to effective treatments developed in the last few years. It is more important than ever to preserve quality of life for long-term survivors.

Proton therapy improves overall survival and reduces high grade complications for head and neck cancers compared with photon therapy. Side effects of radiation for head and neck cancer can cause malnutrition, need for feeding tubes, dehydration, and other costly side effects that can require hospitalizations. Proton therapy delivers less radiation to healthy tissue and thus reduces the incidence of these costly side effects.

Proton therapy is the treatment of choice for base of skull cancers and chordomas, where sensitive brain and ocular structures prevent safe treatment with conventional radiation. Proton therapy has been shown to improve tumor control and overall survival for these cancers compared with photon therapy.

Proton therapy can improve outcomes when used to treat brain tumors, offering reduced side effects and treatment options where no safe options exist in the treatment of recurrent brain tumors. Proton therapy can also decrease injury to normal brain tissues in primary brain tumor treatment.

Proton therapy reduces radiation dose to the heart and lungs, preventing long term cardiac toxicity for patients with breast cancer.

Proton therapy improves overall survival and reduces high grade complications and resulting costly hospitalizations for esophageal cancer compared with photon therapy.

Proton therapy improves survival for hepatocellular carcinoma compared with photon therapy and stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Proton therapy improves survival for both early stage and locally advanced stage non-small cell lung cancers when compared with photon therapy.

Proton reduces side effects for pancreatic and gastrointestinal tumors compared with photon therapy.

Proton therapy offers a curative option not available with photon therapy for recurrent tumors. When cancers recur, traditional radiation is often not a safe treatment option, leaving cancer patients with limited treatment options and prognosis. Proton therapy gives patients with cancer recurrence a treatment option they would not have with conventional radiation and can lead to cures in select patients.

Proton beam therapy is effective for treating prostate cancer, with excellent long-term outcomes and fewer long-term, costly side effects such as bowel toxicities.

Proton therapy is the preferred treatment for pediatric patients needing curative radiotherapy. Proton radiotherapy decreases the risks for cancers caused by radiotherapy, decreases brain injury and improves neurocognitive function after treatment, and significantly reduces overall acute and acute and chronic life-long side effects.

Proton therapy leads to fewer secondary radiation-induced cancer across all cancers than photon therapy.