@surftohealth88 Proton has a unique characteristic called the Bragg-Peak that photon doesn’t have.
These should lead to better outcomes, but the calculation is difficult - and some centers even get it wrong.
Photon is like shining a flashlight against a target on a wall, yes you’ll hit the target head-on, but the scatter will hit a lot of other stuff, too. Proton is like shining a laser light against a target on a wall, less entry dose, less scatter, and less exit dose — should be less side-effects, but the calculation has to be done right or you get no difference than photon.
And then, there’s the spread-out Bragg-Peak (SOBP); that’s another level of difficulty.
(The NCCN guidelines call for different treatment regimens for 4+5 [very high risk] than for 4+3 [intermediate unfavorable risk].)
@brianjarvis
I sad "on the long run" the same .