India's First Proton Beam Therapy Pediatric Patient

We recently started India's first proton beam therapy facility. Proton beam therapy because of its unique physical characteristics of minimal exit dose has an unequivocal dosimetric superiority over high-end photon/standard X-ray beam therapy and is particularly advantageous in growing children with curable cancers in view of their very high probability of long-term cures. We hereby report a case of a 7-year-old boy with a craniopharyngioma which had been subtotally resected and was subsequently treated with modern pencil beam proton therapy under high-precision image guidance. This is the first ever child ever to be treated with proton therapy in India.