Radioactive Beams for Image-Guided Particle Therapy and biomedical applications

• Daria Boscolo

While charged particle therapy is among the most advanced radiotherapy techniques, its clinical potential is still limited by uncertainties in the beam range. Radioactive ion beams (RIBs) have been proposed for decades as a way to address this limitation, since isotopes undergoing β⁺-decay can be directly visualized through positron emission tomography (PET). This unique property offers the possibility of combining treatment and real time range monitoring. Until recently, the challenging production and the limited intensities of RIBs have hindered their translation into a clinical setting. Recent progress in accelerator technology now makes it possible to generate RIBs with sufficient intensities for systematic preclinical investigations. Within this framework, the BARB (Biomedical Applications of Radioactive ion Beams) initiative at GSI explores the biological and physical aspects of RIBs, from dosimetry to radiobiological effectiveness and imaging performance. In this seminar, an overview of the current status of RIBs research GSI will we be presented with a particular focus on the latest results on the first treatment of a mouse tumor by radioactive ion beams.

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