The inflammatory response from stereotactic body proton therapy versus stereotactic body radiation therapy: implications from early stage non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common noncutaneous cancer and the deadliest cancer in the United States (US) with 228,150 estimated new cases in 2019 (1). About 87% of lung cancers diagnosed in the US are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which currently has a 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of 23% across all stages, ranging from 57% for stage I to 4% for stage IV diseases (2).