Stannard, C. et al. (2013). Malignant salivary gland tumours: Can fast neutron therapy results point the way to carbon ion therapy? Radiotherapy and Oncology, The increasing number of hadron therapy centres around the world and their use of carbon ion beams have resulted in a growing interest in high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiotherapy. Carbon ions combine the advantages of high-LET radiation with the superior ballistic properties of charged particles. The most commonly used high-LET therapy to date is neutron therapy. The rationale for using it for salivary gland tumours is based on Battermann's observations of growth delay of pulmonary metastases treated with neutrons relative to cobalt-60 radiation [1]. He derived a relative biological effect (RBE) of 8 for fractionated therapy to adenoid cystic carcinoma metastases compared with 3 for most normal tissues, implying a significant therapeutic gain for salivary gland tumours. The safe application of high-LET hadron therapy requires biologically driven treatment planning that has to be based on clinical data. We contribute to this

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract