First In Vivo Monitoring of Helium-Ion Radiotherapie With Secondary Ions

Ion beam radiation therapy offers steep dose gradients and high biological effectiveness required for the treatment of complex cancer cases. While the vast majority of ion beam therapy centers currently use protons and carbon ions, there is renewed interest in helium ions due to their unique physical and radiobiological properties. All ion-beam treatments are subject to beam-range uncertainties, mainly due to potential changes in patient morphology. In vivo treatment monitoring of secondary ions could potentially provide feedback on treatment quality, enabling dose reduction in healthy tissue or escalation of the tumor dose.