Particles for Health: Improving Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is a standard treatment for cancer, using energy beams--most commonly photons--to destroy malignant cells. While conventional radiotherapy is well established, significant efforts are underway to improve its efficacy through advanced techniques originating from Particle and Nuclear Physics.


One such approach involves the use of ultra-intense beams to trigger the FLASH effect, which has been shown in several studies to increase the sparing of healthy tissue. However, clinical implementation of this technique presents challenges in beam monitoring, control, and safety. Promising solutions to these challenges may be drawn from instrumentation developed in particle and astroparticle physics experiments.


Another major development is the rise of theranostic tools--techniques that combine therapy and diagnostics using the same treatment beam. An example is the EU-funded BoneOscopy project, which aims to assess treatment efficacy by detecting by-products of proton radiotherapy. This talk will present the goals of the project, its main challenges, and some of the proposed solutions.