Session Item

Saturday
May 08
10:30 - 11:30
Proffered papers: Urogenital cancers
0270
Proffered papers
08:00 - 08:40
Differential biological effects of photon and particle irradiation; experimental highlights and clinical impact
SP-0005

Abstract

Differential biological effects of photon and particle irradiation; experimental highlights and clinical impact
Authors: Durante|, Marco(1)*[m.durante@gsi.de];
(1)GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Biophysics Department, Darmstadt, Germany;
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Abstract Text
Abstract text

Particle therapy is rapidly growing worldwide. The main benefit is related o the physics, i.e. to the Bragg peak that allows much more sparing of normal tissue tann X-rays. However, densely ionizing (high-LET) radiation has quantitative and qualitative radiobiological differences from X-rays, While the proton LET is still so low that the biological effects are expected to be similar to photons, the increased biological effectiveness is the main rationale for the use of heavier ions such as carbon. In the figure below these physical and biological properties are summarized. The question is however whether these properties translates into a clinical benefit. We will discuss the current evidence and provide indications about which patients can especially benefit from charged particles.