Magnetic field modification of electron-beam dose distributions in inhomogeneous media

Modern curative radiotherapy requires higher doses to the tumor volume and, necessarily, minimal doses to the surrounding normal tissues. Attempts to use heavy charged particles to achieve such optimization are currently under investigation in many centers. Our data indicate that a static, superimposed magnetic field on a clinical electron-therapy beam also offers the capability of some "tailoring" of isodose distributions. Furthermore, a variable, superimposed magnetic field minimizes those tissue-generated dose heterogeneities which are inherent with all charged-particle beams. We suggest that magnetically modified, clinically available electron beams also offer a practical and less expensive means of achieving tailored, heterogeneity-corrected isodose distributions.