Radiobiological intercomparison of two clinical neutron beams using the regeneration of mouse intestinal crypts

Determination of dose modification factor greatly facilitates the introduction of clinically proven neutron therapy schedules at new installations. We have compared the biological performance of the p(66)+Be neutron facility at Faure, South Africa, with the established p(65)+Be installation at Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Filtration, D gamma/DT, dose rate and HVT 5/15 for the Louvain and Faure beam are: 2 cm, 2.5 cm polyethylene; 3%, 5%; 0.2 Gy/min, 0.4 Gy/min; and 20 cm and 19 cm respectively. Dosimetry was done in A-150 plastic. Irradiation of BALB/C mice was carried on according to the dose accumulation method in a perspex phantom at 5 cm depth and at an SSD of 150 cm at a field size of 28 X 28 cm2. Sections of the jejunum were prepared at each centre and analyzed by both. The RBE of the Faure beam determined at a survival level of 50 crypts ranged from 1.64 to 1.69. The dose modification factor RBE of the Louvain beam given by Beauduin et al. was 1.61 +/- 0.14. The dose modification factor of the Faure beam relative to the Louvain beam is thus 1.03 +/- 0.13 which could be expected from the similarity of the physical characteristics. Independent RBE measurements in a variety of systems also suggest similar biological properties. The depth variation of the RBE was found to be 4% (mouse gut) using 3 cm polyethylene filter over the depth range of 2.5 to 13.5 cm. This is in agreement with microdosimetry measurements using polyethylene filters of various thicknesses and with V79 measurements reported by Slabbert et al.