The New ICRU Report on Prescribing, Recording and Reporting Light Ion Beam Therapy

The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) is currently in the final stage of publishing Report 93, Prescribing, Recording and Reporting Light Ion Beam Therapy. Light ion beam therapy has been initially developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and first patients were treated with helium beams there in 1954, the same year, when proton therapy started in Berkeley. In 1975, also at LBNL, heavier ions, like carbon, neon, silicon and argon ions were used in clinical trials. It has been shown in these trials, that light ions offer not only a beneficial absorbed depth dose curve, but in addition have an increased biological effectiveness in the Bragg peak as compared to entrance region, which makes them very attractive especially for treating radio-resistant tumors. The first clinical facility for carbon ion beam therapy was opened in 1994 in Chiba, Japan and the number of clinical centers has been increasing slowly, but steadily, with ten centers being in operation today.