At present various sites around the world use beams of swift protons or carbon ions for radiotherapy. The success of the GSI C radiotherapy pilot project has triggered the planning and/or construction of numerous clinical ion facilities in Germany (Heidelberg, Marburg, Berlin) and Europe (CNAO, MedAustron, Etoile). These sites will use carbon ions and also protons as their prime modalities. The...

In recent years, radiotherapy for liver cancer has accomplished much technical progress. The history of radiotherapy for liver cancer shows an endeavor to overcome the problem of how to raise the irradiation dose to lesions while suppressing the unnecessary irradiation dose to normal liver tissue. With the appearance of treatment using X-ray radiotherapy represented by three-dimensional conform...

BACKGROUND Hypoxia-induced radioresistance constitutes a major obstacle for a curative treatment of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of photon and carbon ion irradiation in combination with inhibitors of DNA-Damage Response (DDR) on tumor cell radiosensitivity under hypoxic conditions. METHODS Human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) models, A549 and H1437, were irradi...

In order to measure a three-dimensional dose distribution in X-ray radiotherapy, we developed TL slab dosimeter with new TL phosphor Li3B7O12(Cu), which has Zeff = 7.42 and a density of 1.01 g/cm 3 and synthetic resin as binder [1].We can measure a three-dimensional dose distribution easily and reliably using this detector. This detector showed a promising tool for QA/QC in advanced X-ray radio...

Heavy-ion radiotherapy has a potential advantage over conventional radiotherapy due to improved dose distribution and a higher biological effectiveness in cancer therapy. However, there is a little information currently available on the cellular and molecular basis for heavy-ion irradiation-induced cell death. Autophagy, as a novel important target to improve anticancer therapy, has recently at...

Charged particle beams offer an improved dose conformation to the target volume when compared with photon radiotherapy, with better sparing of normal tissue structures close to the target. In addition, beams of heavier ions exhibit a strong increase of the linear energy transfer in the Bragg peak when compared with the entrance region. These physical and biological properties make ion beams mor...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the financial costs to start BNCT as a clinical treatment in a hospital. To evaluate more accurate data on the precise costs of BNCT, we analyzed the costs of conventional radiotherapy, carbon ion and proton therapy and compare them to BNCT. An aggregate cost calculation of accelerator, buildings, equipments and staff requirements was performed.

Carbon ion therapy is a promising evolving modality in radiotherapy to treat tumors that are radioresistant against photon treatments. As carbon ions are more effective in normal and tumor tissue, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) has to be calculated by bio-mathematical models and has to be considered in the dose prescription. This review (i) introduces the concept of the RBE and its...