Advances in nuclear data and all-particle transport for radiation oncology

摘要

Fast neutrons have been used to treat over 15,000 cancer patients worldwide and proton therapy is rapidly emerging as a treatment of choice for tumors around critical anatomical structures. Neutron therapy requires evaluated data to (approximately)70 MeV while proton therapy requires data to (approximately)250 MeV. Collaboration between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the medical physics community has revealed limitations in nuclear cross section evaluations and radiation transport capabilities that have prevented neutron and proton radiation therapy centers from using Monte Carlo calculations to accurately predict dose in patients. These evaluations require energy- and angle-dependent cross sections for secondary neutrons, charged-particles and recoil nuclei. We are expanding the LLNL nuclear databases to higher energies for biologically important elements and have developed a three-dimensional, all-particle Monte Carlo radiation transport code that uses computer-assisted-tomography (CT) images as the input mesh. This code, called PEREGRINE calculates dose distributions in the human body and can be used as a tool to determine the dependence of dose on details of the evaluated nuclear data. In this paper, we will review the status of the nuclear data required for neutron and proton therapy, describe the capabilities of the PEREGRINE package, and show the effects of tissue inhomogeneities on dose distribution.