Multiscale physics of ion-induced radiation damage

Abstract

A multiscale approach to the physics of ion-beam cancer therapy, an approach suggested in order to understand the interplay of a large number of phenomena involved in radiation damage scenario occurring on a range of temporal, spatial, and energy scales, is being reviewed. The scenario is described along with a variety of effects that take place on different temporal, spatial, and energy scales and play major roles in the scenario of interaction of ions with tissue. The understanding of these effects leads to a quantitative assessment of relative biological effectiveness that relates the physical quantities, such as dose, to the biological values, such as the probability of cell survival.