Research team studies possibilities of proton therapy for pregnant women with cancer

Less damage

During a pregnancy, radiotherapy is usually avoided because it could be harmful for the unborn baby. Proton therapy, an innovative but expensive radiation technique, however is meant to cause a lot lett damage than classic photon therapy. 

1 in a 1,000 women is diagnosed with cancer, and until now only 1 to 3 per cent are able to get radiotherapy. It is therefore very promising news that there will be research into the possibility of treating pregnant women with cancer with proton therapy, without any risk to the unborn child. 

Prof. dr. Maarten Lambrecht (radiotherapist-oncologist at UZ Leuven): "The goal of this research is to develop the most optimal irradiation treatment for every pregnant patient with the use of proton therapy, while at the same time protecting the unborn child as much as possible. This is only possible thanks to the unique collaboration between our radiotherapy-oncology department,  INCIP (professor Frederik Amant) and the SCK-CEN (Marijke de Saint-Hubert), and thanks to the financial support of the Stichting tegen Kanker."