Modern Cancer Radiation Therapy (PHYS*7710)

Course Information

Objective

To impart a basic knowledge of the underlying physics and the practice of cancer radiation therapy using accelerated charged particles and targeted radiation therapy. 

Syllabus

• Radiation damage of healthy and malignant tissue; fundamentals of radiation therapy
• Basics of hadron accelerators 
• Beam properties and beam delivery
• Dose and range verification in hadron therapy
• Dose calculation and treatment planning in hadron therapy
• Clinical evidence for hadron therapy
• New directions in hadron therapy 
• Targeted therapy using radioactive alpha- and beta-emitters 

Reference texts

• Radiation Oncology: A Physicist’s Eye View, M. Goitein, Springer 2008  
• Proton Therapy Physics, H. Paganetti, CRC Press 2012
• Ion Beam Therapy, U. Linz, Springer 2012
• Glenn F. Knoll, Radiation detection and measurement
• Use may be made of research articles in the refereed literature

Evaluation

The evaluation of the course follows the below scheme: 

• The students will research assigned topics and will discuss the topics in regular meetings with the instructor. The students will be asked to prepare their own questions as a starting point for the discussion (20%)
• The students will each give two presentations on selected topics (20%)
• The students will each present three research papers and will write a critical summary for each paper (20%)
• The students will also be evaluated in a midterm (15%) and final oral exam (25%) on the discussed topics.