Radiation combined with anti-VEGF therapy has been shown to be synergistic in treating cancer and result in sustained tumor regression. On-going clinical trials have shown potential synergism between intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy and epiretinal brachytherapy administered during vitrectomy surgery in treating eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration (eAMD). In this study, we test the hypothesis that radiation to the macula administered noninvasively via proton beam is well-tolerated in eyes with eAMD when combined with intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy and that this combination therapy may act synergistically to result in sustained treatment effect in eyes with eAMD.
The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that proton beam irradiation combined with intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy is safe and potentially more effective than intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy alone in eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration.