Frontiers in Oncology (Dec 2021)

Deep Seated Tumour Treatments With Electrons of High Energy Delivered at FLASH Rates: The Example of Prostate Cancer

  • Alessio Sarti,
  • Alessio Sarti,
  • Patrizia De Maria,
  • Giuseppe Battistoni,
  • Micol De Simoni,
  • Micol De Simoni,
  • Cinzia Di Felice,
  • Yunsheng Dong,
  • Marta Fischetti,
  • Marta Fischetti,
  • Gaia Franciosini,
  • Gaia Franciosini,
  • Michela Marafini,
  • Michela Marafini,
  • Francesco Marampon,
  • Ilaria Mattei,
  • Riccardo Mirabelli,
  • Riccardo Mirabelli,
  • Silvia Muraro,
  • Massimiliano Pacilio,
  • Luigi Palumbo,
  • Luigi Palumbo,
  • Loredana Rocca,
  • Damiana Rubeca,
  • Angelo Schiavi,
  • Angelo Schiavi,
  • Adalberto Sciubba,
  • Adalberto Sciubba,
  • Vincenzo Tombolini,
  • Marco Toppi,
  • Marco Toppi,
  • Giacomo Traini,
  • Antonio Trigilio,
  • Antonio Trigilio,
  • Vincenzo Patera,
  • Vincenzo Patera

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.777852
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Different therapies are adopted for the treatment of deep seated tumours in combination or as an alternative to surgical removal or chemotherapy: radiotherapy with photons (RT), particle therapy (PT) with protons or even heavier ions like 12C, are now available in clinical centres. In addition to these irradiation modalities, the use of Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) beams (100–200 MeV) has been suggested in the past, but the diffusion of that technique was delayed due to the needed space and budget, with respect to standard photon devices. These disadvantages were not paired by an increased therapeutic efficacy, at least when comparing to proton or carbon ion beams. In this contribution we investigate how recent developments in electron beam therapy could reshape the treatments of deep seated tumours. In this respect we carefully explored the application of VHEE beams to the prostate cancer, a well-known and studied example of deep seated tumour currently treated with high efficacy both using RT and PT. The VHEE Treatment Planning System was obtained by means of an accurate Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of the electrons interactions with the patient body. A simple model of the FLASH effect (healthy tissues sparing at ultra-high dose rates), has been introduced and the results have been compared with conventional RT. The study demonstrates that VHEE beams, even in absence of a significant FLASH effect and with a reduced energy range (70–130 MeV) with respect to implementations already explored in literature, could be a good alternative to standard RT, even in the framework of technological developments that are nowadays affordable.

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