Fast-neutron radiobiology and radiotherapy
conference paper
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 frequencies of severe normal tissue damage. Differences in intrinsic radiosensitivity and the presence of hypoxic cells are considered to be the main factors which can cause values of the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for responses of tumours to be larger than RBE values for normal tissue tolerance. Clinical studies on lung metastases irradiated with single doses of 15 MeV neutrons indicate that RBE values for tumour growth delay can vary between 1.2 and 4.0, while RBE values for damage to several normal tissues are estimated from corresponding animal data to be approximately 2.5.
TNO Identifier
355508
ISBN
978-3-0348-5522-8
Publisher
Birkhäuser
Source title
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Cyclotrons and their Applications, 19-22 August 1975, Zürich, Switzerland
Editor(s)
Joho, W.
Place of publication
Basel
Pages
427-430
Files
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