Abstract
AbstractThe use of charged particles and nuclei in cancer therapy is one of the most successful cases of application of nuclear physics to medicine. The physical advantages in terms of precision and selectivity, combined with the biological properties of densely ionizing radiation, make charged particle approach a clinically preferred choice in a number of cases. Hadron therapy is in continuous development and nuclear physicists can give important contributions to this discipline. In this work, some of the relevant aspects in nuclear physics will be reviewed.
Highlights
Introduction and basic principlesCharged particle therapy (CPT in the following), or hadron therapy, is an innovative cancer radiotherapy based on nuclear particles for treatment of early and advanced tumors
Fragmentation of both projectile and target is probably one of the most relevant processes to be studied in detail, since it affects the attenuation of primary beam and the biological effect
At present the Stopping Power (SP) maps are extracted from 3-dimensional images obtained by X-ray Computed Tomography; here the photon attenuation coefficients are translated into SP using conversion tables
Summary
Charged particle therapy (CPT in the following), or hadron therapy, is an innovative cancer radiotherapy based on nuclear particles (protons, neutrons and light ions) for treatment of early and advanced tumors. The topic of particle range uncertainties and the development of a specific imaging approaches will be presented, while Section 4 will be dedicated to real time monitoring techniques based on the exploiting of nuclear interactions. Inelastic interactions are responsible of beam attenuation along the longitudinal profile, while elastic scattering, especially in the case of proton therapy, contributes to the transversal profile of dose distribution Fragmentation of both projectile and target is probably one of the most relevant processes to be studied in detail, since it affects the attenuation of primary beam and the biological effect. At present the SP maps are extracted from 3-dimensional images obtained by X-ray Computed Tomography; here the photon attenuation coefficients are translated into SP using conversion tables This intermediate step introduces an intrinsic uncertainty resulting into an error in the proton range calculation that can be of several millimeters [8]. In order to make use of these processes, the comparison of measured and pre-calculated distributions of secondary particles is needed (see the discussion in Section 2 about Monte Carlo models)
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