Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients With Proton Beam-Based Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy: Dosimetric Comparison With Photon Plans Highlights Importance of Range Uncertainty

Protons generate larger high-dose regions than photons because of range uncertainties. This can result in nearby healthy organs (e.g., chest wall) receiving close to the prescription dose, at least when two to three beams are used, such as in our study. Therefore, future research should explore the benefit of using more than three beams to reduce the dose to nearby organs. Additionally, clinical subgroups should be identified that will benefit from proton SBRT.