Proton and Heavy Ion Therapy: An overview: January 2017
19
Table 5
Carbon ion treatment compared to standard of care
20
Site
5 year LC range
Toxicity range (late ≥ GIII injury)
SOC
Carbon
SOC
Carbon
Head and Neck
Adenoid cystic
27-72%
26-96%
0-12.9%
0-17%
Bone/soft tissue sarcoma
43-70%
24-73%
0%
2-18.5%
Skull base
46-73%
82-88%
0-7%
0-5%
Thorax
NSCLC
80-97%
90-95%
0-15%
3% (pneumonitis)
Abdomen and Pelvis
HCC
75-96%
81-96%
7-22%
3-4%
Pancreas
10-20%
66-100%
1.8-20%
7.7%
Prostate
80-95%**
87-99%*
4-28%
0.1-25%
Rectal cancer
24-28%
95%
14-27%
-
Cervix cancer
20%
53%
0-10.6%
9.6-18.2%
Sacral chordoma
55-72%
88%
17.6%
5.9%-17.9%
Chondrosarcoma
20-40%
60%
-
-
Abbreviations: SOC Standard of Care, LC Local Control, HCC Hepatocellular carcinoma, GIII Grade III toxicity, *OS (Overall survival); **bPFS
(biochemical progression free survival).
Although the use of carbon ion particle therapy appears to be a promising treatment, particularly
for highly aggressive and radio-resistant tumours, until such time as sufficient evidence of clinical
superiority and cost-effectiveness exists, this modality should be treated as experimental, and its
use within Australia or New Zealand should be restricted to clinical research.
Demand for Particle Therapy Services
Since 1995, the Commonwealth Department of Health has administered the Medical Treatment
Overseas Program (MTOP), which provides financial assistance for Australians with a life-
threatening medical condition to receive proven life-saving medical treatment overseas where:
the proposed overseas treatment or an effective alternative treatment must not be available
in Australia in time to benefit the applicant in question
the proposed treatment must be significantly life extending and potentially
curative
there must be a real prospect of success for the applicant, and
the treatment must be accepted by the Australian medical profession as standard form of
treatment for the medical condition.
Proton and Heavy Ion Therapy: An overview: January 2017
20
The MTOP supports individuals applying for PBT who have met all four of the above criteria.
Historically, approved clinical indications for PBT have been limited to chordoma or
chondrosarcoma of the axial skeleton, and some paediatric brain tumours where conventional
radiotherapy treatment was considered suboptimal. Patients with eye malignancy were previously
accepted for MTOP funding, however these conditions are now treated with stereotactic
radiosurgery within Australia, which has demonstrated similar efficacy against cancerous tumours.
There is some evidence that stereotactic radiosurgery may lead to an increased incidence of
radiation induced blindness in comparison to PBT,
42
however, study results were not obtained
from randomised controlled trial evidence. Patients with ocular tumours treated with PBT may
also experience optical trauma, therefore high-level comparative evidence is required before a
definitive conclusion can be made.
Since the inception of the MTOP, 68 applicants have been approved for overseas PBT access, and
four applications were rejected. From 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2015, financial assistance for
24 patients was provided at a total cost of $3,427,469 (treatment costs only). This equates to an
average of four patients per year, at an average treatment cost of $142,800 per patient. Within
recent years, the costs for treatment have reduced as the number of overseas service providers
has increased. The Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) is currently reviewing the
evidence around the clinical indications for PBT that have been previously approved by the MTOP.
The New Zealand Ministry for Health maintains a similar program known as the High-Cost
Treatment Pool (HCTP). Since 2005, there have been seven HCTP applications approved for PBT,
and two applications declined. All approved applications were to treat ocular (eye) melanoma in
the UK, with average treatment cost of NZ$35,000 per patient. The New Zealand Ministry of
Health has advised that New Zealand does not currently have any plans to introduce proton beam
facilities.
It should be noted that if a proton facility is built in Australia, those assessed as requiring this
treatment modality will no longer have access to MTOP funding. Additionally, with no applicable
Medical Benefits Scheme listing at this time, funding for treatment would require that costs are
borne entirely by States and Territories, or by the patient themselves.
International modelling of PBT demand was recently undertaken within the United Kingdom (UK).
As at 2012, with a population of 64 million,
43
the UK Department of Health modelled a PBT
demand of 1,487 patients (including 252 paediatric cases) per annum, utilising a conservative list
of predominantly complex craniospinal indications. As a PBT facility (comprised of three gantry
treatment rooms and a research room) was anticipated to achieve a maximum throughput of 750
patients per year, the UK Government funded construction of two PBT facilities (currently
underway), with the potential development of a third facility in the longer term.
44
Subsequent to
this announcement, some private PBT facilities were announced for the UK,
45-48
however the
range of clinical indications that will be treated at these is not known.