Mechanisms and review of clinical evidence for variations in relative biological effectiveness in proton therapy

Proton therapy is increasingly being used as a radiation therapy modality. There is uncertainty about the biological effectiveness of protons relative to photon therapies as it depends on several physical and biological parameters. Radiation oncology currently applies a constant and generic value for the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of 1.1, which was chosen conservatively to ensure tumor coverage. The use of a constant value has been challenged particularly when considering normal tissue constraints.
Source: International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics - Category: Radiology Authors: Source Type: research