Applied Radiobiology and Bioeffect Planning

Proton Radiobiology

In addition to the physical advantages (Bragg peak), the use of charged particles in cancer therapy can be associated with distinct biological effects compared to X-rays. While heavy ions (densely ionizing radiation) are known to have an energy- and charge-dependent increased Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE), protons should not be very different from sparsely ionizing photons. A slightly...

Fast-neutron radiobiology and radiotherapy.

The application of fast neutrons, negative pions or heavy ions will only provide an advantage for the radiotherapy of cancer if, in comparison with conventional radiations, e.g., X-rays, gamma rays and electrons, better depth-dose and collimation characteristics or specific radiobiological dose response relationships result in greater local control probabilities for tumours without increased fr...

For the next trick: new discoveries in radiobiology applied to glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant brain tumor. Radiotherapy post surgical resection remained the mainstay of the management of GBM for decades until the addition of temozolomide was shown to prolong the median overall survival (OS) by 2.5 months to 14.6 months in 2005. Infiltrative growth to surrounding normal brain tissue and cooption of vascular niches, peripheral microvasuclar ...

Radiobiology for Space Research

Radiobiology Cell Survival

The loss of proliferative potential of a cell is often equated to cell kill, and many studies of the cellular effects of radiation (both ionising and non-ionising) utilise this definition of cell kill to define cell survival. To measure cell survival using this paradigm, a cell culture that has been exposed to a known dose of radiation is cultured and, at a predefined time post irradiation, the...