Evolution of particle beam technique ion beams for medical applications

More than 1,000 patients have been treated with carbon ions emerged from a medical synchrotron HIMAC. The treated patients had tumors in head and neck area, lung, liver, prostate, uterus, and other parts of body. Clinical studies show excellent results and the side effects are kept at extremely low levels. This paper describes a brief history of radiation therapy developed during the 20th Century, provides an outline of the theoretical background of radiation therapy, and shows the recent results of carbon therapy performed at National Institute of Radiological Sciences, NIRS. The paper describes other facilities for charged particle therapy developed in this country and in other parts of the world. (author)