A nine-year-old girl on Monday
became the first pediatric cancer patient in Italy to be treated
with proton therapy, a type of radiation treatment generally
used on aggressive inoperable tumors.
The girl has a rare type of tumor called Chordomas, which
can arise from bone in the skull base and anywhere along the
spine.
The therapy uses a particle accelerator and ionizing
radiation to target diseased tissue with a beam of protons.
Proton therapy is available in 48 centers worldwide, two of
which are in Italy, in Pavia and Trento.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin is seeking to include it
in the country's Essential Care Levels (LEAs), which means the
national health service will pay for the treatment.
"This technique produces a lot fewer long-term side
effects, such the loss of cognitive functions, while sparing
healthy nearby tissue," said Angela Mastronuzzi, a blood cancer
specialist at Bambin Gesu' Pediatric Hospital in Rome.
Children with nervous system tumours are cured in 70% of
cases nowadays, sources said.
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