Proton and Light Ion Therapy for Cancer
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1778
Special Issue Editor
Interests: light ion therapy; advanced image-guided particle therapy; MR-guided particle therapy; adaptive radiotherapy; dosimetry for light ions beams; in vivo monitoring; secondary neutron production; therapy planning and dose calculation for ion beams
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Proton and light ion beam therapy is undergoing an enormous development. Novel beam delivery technologies are being explored, which may substantially improve therapy. Among them are rotational delivery, delivery at ultra-high dose rates (FLASH), spatial fractionation (mini-beam or grid therapy), and treatment in an upright patient position. In parallel, image guidance for particle therapy is entering the next level, facilitating adaptive concepts. Beyond cone-beam CT, CT, and optical surface guidance, MRI guidance is also being explored. The in vivo monitoring of secondary radiation may support therapy adaption. More recently, novel ion beams have been used clinically, like helium and oxygen, which sparked the idea of multi-ion therapy, where different radiation qualities are applied to different target regions.
All these technical developments go hand-in-hand with radiobiological investigations, trying to elucidate the mechanisms of particle beam radiation therapy, especially when connected to novel beam delivery systems, but also to question well-known concepts, like the fixed RBE for proton therapy.
For a more widespread application of proton and light ion therapy, however, clinical studies and comparative trials are needed, trying to create evidence for the efficacy of particle beam therapy and potentially demonstrate superiority compared to conventional concepts. Fortunately, more and more clinical studies are being conducted in our attempts to answer these questions.
Prof. Dr. Oliver Jäkel
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- novel beam delivery concepts
- image guidance
- adaptive therapy
- in vivo monitoring
- radiobiological studies with protons and light ions
- clinical studies
- outcome reports
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