Biological effectiveness of neutrons and pi-mesons in gut, bone, and transplantable tumours

At the Munich RENT-facility a screening project was performed to define the biological characteristics of a fission neutron beam envisaged for radiotherapy. The quantitative endpoints used were jejunal crypt survival, late rectal stenosis in rats, osseous healing in traumatized rat femur and regrowth delay of murine transplantable tumours. The results obtained in normal tissues (with the possible exception of bone) demonstrate a high RBE, in accordance with the well documented dependence of RBE on neutron energy. The RBE-values measured in tumours after single dose treatment endorsed the high effectiveness, although--as has been the case with other beams--they gave no conclusive evidence of a therapeutic advantage. Nevertheless, the specific beam characteristics, i.e. a high RBE at the surface and a fast decline of the biologically effective depth dose suggest possible advantages of the RENT beam when applied in the treatment of selected superficial tumours.