Abstract
Ion therapy has emerged as one of the preferred treatment procedures in some selective indication of cancer. The actual dose delivered to the target volume may differ from the planned dose due to wrong positioning of the patient and organ movement during beam delivery. On the other hand, some healthy tissues outside the planned volume may be exposed to radiation dose. It is necessary to determine the primary particle range and the actual exposed volume during irradiation. Many proposed techniques use secondary radiation for the purpose. The secondary radiation consists mainly of neutrons, charged fragments, annihilation photons, among others, and prompt gammas. These are produced through nuclear interaction of the primary beam with the beam line and the patient’s body tissue. Besides its usefulness in characterizing the primary beam, the secondary radiation contributes to the risk of exposure of different tissues. Secondary radiation has significant contribution in theranostics, a comparatively new branch of medicine, which combines diagnosis and therapy. Many authors have made detailed study of the dose delivered to the patient by the secondary radiation and its effects. They have also studied the correlation of secondary charged particles with the beam range and the delivered dose. While these studies have been carried out in great detail in the case of proton and carbon therapy, there are fewer analyses for theranostics. In the present review, a brief account of the studies carried out so far on secondary radiation in ion therapy, its effect, and the role of nuclear reactions is given.
Highlights
In the growing incidence of malignant diseases, ion therapy has emerged as a preferred choice of treatment in the case of some selective indications [1,2,3,4]
Detailed studies by different authors showed that the secondary radiation produced by the beam interaction in the patient’s body can be used for range correlation and fine tuning of the primary beam. 16O was detected to be the optimum among stable beams for range monitoring using annihilation gammas from positron emitting fragments
Prompt gammas and secondary charged particles (SCPs) could be employed for monitoring the range of the primary beam with millimetric precision
Summary
Reviewed by: Alessio Sarti, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Satoshi Kodaira, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Japan Ilaria Mattei, INFN-Sezione di Milano, Italy. The secondary radiation consists mainly of neutrons, charged fragments, annihilation photons, among others, and prompt gammas These are produced through nuclear interaction of the primary beam with the beam line and the patient’s body tissue. Many authors have made detailed study of the dose delivered to the patient by the secondary radiation and its effects. They have studied the correlation of secondary charged particles with the beam range and the delivered dose. While these studies have been carried out in great detail in the case of proton and carbon therapy, there are fewer analyses for theranostics.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
