Dreams, themes and particle beams--an oncologist's perspective on technology trickle-down from the LHC

11 years ago, the European Network for Light Ion Therapy (ENLIGHT) was established as a multidisciplinary network of engineers, physicists and clinicians with a common interest in the development of hadron therapy in Europe. ENLIGHT is coordinated from the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN), the home of the Large Hadron Collider. The network has evolved into a mature platform for research, with more than 100 researchers working in CERN and its allied research centres. One of the benefits of hosting this network at CERN is the ability to translate hardware and software developments, originally developed in the High Energy Physics domain, into clinical applications. From the perspective of a clinical radiation oncologist within the network, this commentary reviews the ways in which leading edge technological developments in detectors and solid state physics, Monte-Carlo simulation, grid computing and accelerator design have trickled down into real-world clinical applications.