Absorbed dose and biological effect in light ion therapy

Abstract: Radiation therapy with light ions improves treatment outcome for a number of tumor types. The advantageous dose distributions of light ion beams en-able exceptional target conformity, which assures high dose delivery to the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding normal tissues. The demand of high target conformity necessitates development of accurate methods to calculate absorbed dose distributions. This is especially important for heavy charged particle irradiation, where the patient is exposed to a complex radia-tion field of primary and secondary ions.The presented approach combines accurate Monte Carlo calculations using the SHIELD-HIT07 code with a fast analytical pencil beam model, to pro-vide dose distributions of light ions. The developed model allows for ana-lytical descriptions of multiple scattering and energy loss straggling proc-esses of both primary ions and fragments, transported in tissue equivalent media. By applied parameterization of the radial spread of fragments, im-proved description of radial dose distributions at every depth is obtained. The model provides a fast and accurate tool of practical value in clinical work.Compared to conventional radiation modalities, an enhanced tissue response is seen after light ion irradiation and biological optimization calls for accu-rate model description and prediction of the biological effects of ion expo-sure. In a joint study, the performance of some radiobiological models is compared for facilitating the development towards more robust and precise models. Specifically, cell survival after exposure to various ion species is modeled by a fast analytical cellular track structure approach in conjunction with a simple track-segment model of ion beam transport. Although the stud-ies show that descriptions of complex biological effects of ion beams, as given by simple radiobiological models, are approximate, the models may yet be useful in analyzing clinical results and designing new strategies for ion therapy.