Tumor therapy with heavy charged particles

Nuclear science has contributed significantly to the development of tumor therapy with heavy charged particles. Interest evolved for neutron therapies in the forties because of the increased radiobiological effectiveness (RBE) compared to photon irradiation. The development of more powerful proton and heavy ion accelerators with higher energies or higher intensities, made new particles for radiation therapy available Pions, protons, light ions, from helium up to silicon were studied in view of precision dose delivery and increased RBE. Without the parallel development of new diagnostic techniques such as computer tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) the rapid development would not have been possible. Heavy-charged particle therapy has now come into a consolidation phase. Hospital-based facilities are built by industry, and research institutes focus on refinements in dose delivery and treatment planning, as well as systems for monitoring dose delivery and for dose distribution verification.