Dosimetric comparison to the heart and cardiac substructure in a large cohort of esophageal cancer patients treated with proton beam therapy or Intensity-modulated radiation therapy

In patients with mid- to distal esophageal cancer, PBT results in significantly lower radiation exposure to the whole heart and cardiac substructures than IMRT. Long-term studies are necessary to determine how this cardiac sparing effect impacts the development of coronary artery disease and other cardiac complications.