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Comparison study of in vivo dose response to laser-driven versus conventional electron beam

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Abstract

The long-term goal to integrate laser-based particle accelerators into radiotherapy clinics not only requires technological development of high-intensity lasers and new techniques for beam detection and dose delivery, but also characterization of the biological consequences of this new particle beam quality, i.e. ultra-short, ultra-intense pulses. In the present work, we describe successful in vivo experiments with laser-driven electron pulses by utilization of a small tumour model on the mouse ear for the human squamous cell carcinoma model FaDu. The already established in vitro irradiation technology at the laser system JETI was further enhanced for 3D tumour irradiation in vivo in terms of beam transport, beam monitoring, dose delivery and dosimetry in order to precisely apply a prescribed dose to each tumour in full-scale radiobiological experiments. Tumour growth delay was determined after irradiation with doses of 3 and 6 Gy by laser-accelerated electrons. Reference irradiation was performed with continuous electron beams at a clinical linear accelerator in order to both validate the dedicated dosimetry employed for laser-accelerated JETI electrons and above all review the biological results. No significant difference in radiation-induced tumour growth delay was revealed for the two investigated electron beams. These data provide evidence that the ultra-high dose rate generated by laser acceleration does not impact the biological effectiveness of the particles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Mrs. D. Pfitzmann and Ms. K. Schumann for their excellent technical assistance and Mr. F. Tillner for performing the dosimetry at the 200 kV X-ray tube in Dresden. Thanks to the laser engineers from the JETI crew and to the medical physicists at LINAC for their support and ongoing interest in our studies. This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF, Grant Numbers 03ZIK445, 03Z1N511, 03Z1H531 and 05K10SJ2) and by the DFG (TR18).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Josefin Hartmann

    Present address: Strahlenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

  2. Julia Woithe

    Present address: European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OncoRay – National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Melanie Oppelt, Michael Baumann, Kerstin Brüchner, Josefin Hartmann, Leonhard Karsch, Mechthild Krause, Lydia Laschinsky, Christian Richter, Michael Schürer, Julia Woithe & Jörg Pawelke

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Michael Baumann, Kerstin Brüchner & Mechthild Krause

  3. Institute of Radiooncology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany

    Michael Baumann, Kerstin Brüchner & Mechthild Krause

  4. German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Michael Baumann & Mechthild Krause

  5. Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany

    Ralf Bergmann & Lydia Laschinsky

  6. Institute of Radiation Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany

    Elke Beyreuther, Elisabeth Leßmann & Jörg Pawelke

  7. Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany

    Maria Nicolai, Maria Reuter, Alexander Sävert, Michael Schnell & Malte Kaluza

Authors
  1. Melanie Oppelt
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  16. Michael Schürer
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  19. Jörg Pawelke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melanie Oppelt.

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Oppelt, M., Baumann, M., Bergmann, R. et al. Comparison study of in vivo dose response to laser-driven versus conventional electron beam. Radiat Environ Biophys 54, 155–166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-014-0582-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-014-0582-1

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