[Preliminary dosimetry study of the Orsay synchrocyclotron proton beam with a view to applying it therapeutically]

Using proton beams for treatment of malignant tumors of the eye allows high dose irradiation of the tumor volume with negligible irradiation of the surrounding critical structures. Actually, the clinical results reported from the Boston or Villigen groups which have experience of such a technique, are impressive. In France, it is planned to use soon 200 MeV proton beams from the Orsay synchrocyclotron 20 km from Paris. Therefore, a feasibility study has been conducted during year 1988, consisting of a dosimetric analysis of the characteristics of the Orsay proton beams. It was concluded that only simple modifications were necessary to make the beam clinically available for protontherapy and more specifically for treatment of uveal melanomas.