Ion beam therapy offers the possibility of excellent dose localization for treatment of malignant tumours, minimizing radiation damage in normal tissue, while maximizing cell-killing within the tumour. The first ion beam cancer therapy clinical centres are now opening in Europe. However, the full potential of such therapy can only be realised by better understanding the physical, chemical and biological mechanisms, on a range of time and space scales, that lead to cell death under ion irradiation. The proposed Action therefore aims to combine, using a multiscale approach, the unique experimental and theoretical expertise available within Europe to acquire greater insight at the nanoscopic and molecular level into radiation damage induced by ion impact. Success in this endeavour will be both an important scientific breakthrough and give great impetus to the practical improvement of this new therapeutic technique. Ion therapy provides potentially a revolution in cancer therapy and this COST action will be very significant in ensuring European leadership in this field, providing the science background, required data and mechanistic insight which is indispensable for optimization of this new therapy.
Stopping Power - Track structure - Dissociative Electron Attachment - DNA double strand breaks - Dose and Relative Biological Effectiveness.
