Surgical spacer placement and proton radiotherapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Few potentially curative treatment options exist apart from hepatic resection for patients with huge hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Proton radiotherapy is a promising new modality which has an inherent antitumor effect against HCC. However, the application of proton radiotherapy for tumors adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract is restricted because the tolerance dose of the intestine is extremely low. A novel two-step treatment was developed with surgical spacer placement and subsequent proton radiotherap...