Tumor irradiation in mice with a laser-accelerated proton beam


Tumor irradiation in mice with a laser-accelerated proton beam

Kroll, F.; Brack, F.-E.; Bernert, C.; Bock, S.; Bodenstein, E.; Brüchner, K.; Cowan, T.; Gaus, L.; Gebhardt, R.; Helbig, U.; Karsch, L.; Kluge, T.; Kraft, S.; Krause, M.; Leßmann, E.; Masood, U.; Meister, S.; Metzkes-Ng, J.; Nossula, A.; Pawelke, J.; Pietzsch, J.; Püschel, T.; Reimold, M.; Rehwald, M.; Richter, C.; Schlenvoigt, H.-P.; Schramm, U.; Umlandt, M. E. P.; Ziegler, T.; Zeil, K.; Beyreuther, E.

Recent oncological studies identified beneficial properties of radiation applied at ultra-high dose rates several orders of magnitude higher than the clinical standard of the order of Gy/min. Sources capable of providing these ultra-high dose rates are under investigation. Here, we show that a stable, compact laser-driven proton source with energies greater than 60 MeV enables radiobiological in vivo studies. We performed a pilot irradiation study on human tumors in a mouse model, showing the concerted preparation of mice and laser accelerator, the dose-controlled, tumor-conform irradiation using a laser-driven as well as a clinical reference proton source, and the radiobiological evaluation of irradiated and unirradiated mice for radiation-induced tumor growth delay. The prescribed homogeneous dose of 4 Gy was precisely delivered at the laser-driven source. The results demonstrate a complete laser-driven proton research platform for diverse user-specific small animal models, able to deliver tunable single-shot doses up to around 20 Gy to millimeter-scale volumes on nanosecond time scales, equivalent to around 1E9 Gy/s, spatially homogenized and tailored to the sample. The platform provides a unique infrastructure for translational research with protons at ultra-high dose rate.

Keywords: Laser acceleration; TNSA; Radiobiology; FLASH

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-33044
Publ.-Id: 33044