In vitro evaluation of relative biological effectiveness of 3MeV protons using γH2AX immuno-fluorescence

Use of charged particles for treating complicated tumors is gaining momentum. Their defined dose profile, near zero dose to normal tissue beyond tumour, skin sparing, more lethal effect than mutations, ability to focus beam with complex geometries are some of the advantages. Lack of scientific information on radiobiological efficacy, complexity and cost/maintenance of such facilities are hindering their use at present. Though a huge amount of time and resources are invested cancer treatment still primarily depends on chemotherapy and radiotherapy (γ-ray). Through this study we aim to demonstrate relative biological effectiveness of 3MeV proton beam with estimated LET of 13 keV/μm on cancerous mammalian cell line using highly reliable DNA double strand break γH2AX marker as a damage quantification tool