Short-lived radioactiveLi andHe ions for hadrontherapy: a simulation study.
Fiche publication
Date publication
février 2023
Journal
Physics in medicine and biology
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Dr FINCK Christian
Tous les auteurs :
Schnelzauer L, Valentin S, Traykov E, Arbor N, Finck C, Vanstalle M
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
Although hadrontherapy for cancer treatment has grown in popularity these past years, the use of protons and carbon ions for therapy remains debated compared to X-ray therapy. While a biological advantage of protons is not clearly demonstrated, therapy using carbon ions is often criticized for its high cost. Furthermore, the nuclear interactions undergone by carbons inside the patient are responsible for an additional dose delivered after the Bragg peak (BP). Therefore, a renewed interest in lighter ions with higher biological efficiency than protons was recently observed. In this context, helium and lithium ions represent a good compromise between protons and carbons, as they exhibit a higher LET than protons in the Bragg peak and can be accelerated by cyclotrons. The possibility of accelerating radioactiveLi, decaying in 2 α-particles, andHe, decaying inLi by β- decay, is particularly interesting.This work aims to assess the pertinence of the use ofLi andHe ions for therapy by Monte Carlo simulations carried out with GEANT4.It was calculated that theLi andHe decay results in an increase of the LET of almost a factor 2 in the BP compared to stableLi andHe. This also results in a higher dose deposited in the BP without an increase of the dose in the plateau region, and a lower dose after the BP due to fragmentation. It was also shown that both 8He andLi can have potential interest for prompt-gamma monitoring techniques. Finally, the feasibility of accelerating facilities deliveringLi andHe was also discussed.In this study, we demonstrate that bothLi andHe have interesting properties for therapy. Indeed, simulations predict thatLi andHe are a good compromise between proton andC, both in terms of LET and dose.
Mots clés
Monte Carlo simulation, hadrontherapy, radioactive ion beam
Référence
Phys Med Biol. 2023 02 2;: