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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Mar 2;117(4):869–882. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.02.023

Table 2b. Whole breast or chest wall +/- regional lymph nodes proton beam therapy: Adverse outcomes published 2000 - 2022 according to proton beam therapy type.

Adverse outcome Severe Moderate Mild Unspecified
Affected/assessed % Affected/assessed % Affected/assessed % Affected/assessed %
Scattering (104 adverse events)
Dermatitis 15/69 22 49/69 71
Infection 3/18 17 3/18 17
Fatigue 0/18 0 6/18 33
Pain 0/18 0 9/28 32 1/18 6
Oesophagitis¦ 0/18 0 6/46 13
Pneumonitis§ 0/18 0 2/18 11
Lymphoedema 0/18 0 1/18 6 5/28 18
Atrophy 0/18 0 1/18 6
Cardiac 0/18 0 2/18 11
Rib fractures 1/18 6
   Subtotal 18/213 8 77/233 33 9/82 11
Scattering or scanning (214 adverse events)
Dermatitis 2/69 3 57/69 83 10/69 14
Infection 1/69 1 0/69 0 0/69 0
Fatigue 0/69 0 24/69 35 38/69 55
Oesophagitis¦ 0/69 0 5/69 7 19/69 28
Pneumonitis§ 0/69 0 1/69 1 3/69 4
Hyperpigmentation 36/69 52
Telangiectasia 11/69 16
Rib fractures 0/69 0 0/69 0 5/69 7
Lymphoedema 0/69 0 0/69 0 1/69 1
Atrophy 1/69 1
   Subtotal 3/483 1 87/483 18 124/690 18
Scanning (1026 adverse events)
Dermatitis 41/723 6 343/624 55 174/482 36 5/31 16
Infection 1/137 1 2/156 1 0/137 0 7/91 8
Pain 1/246 <1 37/372 10 57/266 21 6/31 19
Pneumonitis§ 1/257 <1 0/257 0 2/276 1
Oesophagitis¦ 0/336 0 43/355 12 62/355 17 2/100 2
Fatigue 0/144 0 7/144 5 61/144 42
Decreased shoulder movement 0/11 0 1/30 3 6/30 20
Fibrosis 0/11 0 1/37 3 9/56 16
Lymphoedema 0/153 0 3/172 2 21/172 12 3/91 3
Hyperpigmentation 0/176 0 3/218 1 106/244 43 8/19 42
Brachial plexopathy 0/204 0 0/204 0 3/204 1
Telangiectasia 0/139 0 0/181 0 3/207 1 0/13 0
Rib fractures 0/205 0 0/205 0 1/205 0 6/203 3
Cardiac 0/220 0 0/220 0 0/220 0
   Subtotal 44/2962 1 440/3175 14 505/2998 17 37/579 6
Total (all PBT types) 65/3658 2 604/3891 16 629/3688 17 46/661 7

Footnotes as for Table 2a