1. Development of Fast Neutron Therapy Worldwide: Radiobiological, clinical and technical aspects
- Author
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Françoise Richard, André Wambersie, and N. Breteau
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Radiobiology ,Palliative treatment ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Rectum ,Bone Neoplasms ,Radiation Tolerance ,Fast Neutrons ,Neoplasms ,Humans ,Medicine ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,Medical physics ,Fast neutron therapy ,business.industry ,Academies and Institutes ,Prostatic Neoplasms ,Sarcoma ,Hematology ,General Medicine ,Salivary Gland Neoplasms ,Cell Hypoxia ,Neutron therapy ,Radiation therapy ,Paranasal sinuses ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Energy Transfer ,Oncology ,Head and Neck Neoplasms ,Radiology ,business ,Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms - Abstract
Radiobiological data indicate that fast neutrons could bring a benefit in the treatment of some tumour types, and suggest mechanisms through which this benefit could be achieved. However, radiobiology also clearly indicates that there is a need for patient selection as well as for a high-physical selectivity. The main difficulty when interpreting the results of neutron therapy are the poor technical conditions in which the first treatments were applied. This explains why the value and the place of neutron therapy are not universally recognized, although more than 15,000 patients have been treated so far worldwide. There are, however, clinical indications of fast neutrons bringing a benefit for the following tumour sites: salivary glands, paranasal sinuses, soft tissue sarcomas, prostatic adenocarcinomas, palliative treatment of melanoma and rectum. These tumours represent about 10-15% of all patients currently referred to the radiation therapy departments.
- Published
- 1994
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