Pretherapeutic research programmes at pi-minus meson facilities

Programs are suggested to evaluate the physical and radiobiological properties of pions minus beams before their therapeutic application. Besides establishing isodose contours and machine output information, depth dose profiles also have to be studied. RBE and OER vary as a function of depth. Mammalian cell cultures can be used to study these phenomena. In vitro measured RBE values can be checked and late radiation effects can be studied in experiments with animals. Also the therapeutic effect upon transplantable neoplasms in animals can be investigated