PARABLE: A trial looking at proton beam therapy for breast cancer
Enrolling participants
What is the study about?
PARABLE investigates a new type of radiotherapy to see if it can help people with breast cancer avoid side effects of treatment.
Traditional radiotherapy uses a beam of x-rays to target and kill cancer. Proton beam therapy uses a stream of proton particles, instead of x-rays. Protons can be targeted even more precisely than traditional radiotherapy.
The location of some people’s breast cancer means that the heart can be exposed to higher doses of x-rays using traditional radiotherapy methods. This can lead to heart problems in later life. PARABLE is investigating whether proton beam therapy reduces the dose of radiotherapy the heart receives and whether the breast short-term side effects experienced by participants are similar to traditional radiotherapy.
Proton beam therapy is currently only available at two NHS hospitals in the UK, in Manchester and London. Results of PARABLE will be used to see if proton beam therapy would be helpful for people with breast cancer near their heart in the future.