In comparison to conventional tumor treatments with x-rays, the usage of carbon-ion beams in radiotherapy has shown better sparing of the healthy tissue that surrounds the tumor. This is possible due to the small lateral scattering and finite range of the ions within the tumor. As ions penetrate the tissue, nuclear fragmentation reactions occur between the incoming ions and the nuclei of the...
Ion-beam radiotherapy has the capacity to improve cancer treatments by highly conformal doses to the tumor. This results in a better sparing of healthy tissue in comparison to the standard radiotherapy with photons. On the other hand, the dose concentration–with steep gradients– increases the sensitivity of ion-beam radiotherapy to potential uncertainties during the treatment process like...