MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS OF SPATIAL LET DISTRIBUTIONS IN CLINICAL PROTON BEAMS

The linear energy transfer (LET) is commonly used as a parameter which describes the quality of the radiation applied in radiation therapy with fast ions. In particular in proton therapy, most models which predict the radiobiological properties of the applied beam, are fitted to the dose-averaged LET, LETd. The related parameter called the fluence- or track-averaged LET, LETt, is less frequently used. Both LETt and in particular LETd depends profoundly on the encountered secondary particle spectrum. For proton beams including all secondary particles, LETd may reach more than 3 keV/um in the entry channel of the proton field. However, typically the charged particle spectrum is only averaged over the primary and secondary protons, which is in the order of 0.5 keV/um for the same region. This is equal to assuming that the secondary particle spectrum from heavier ions is irrelevant for the resulting radiobiology, which is an assertion in the need of closer investigation. Models which rely on LETd should also be clear on what type of LETd is used, which is not always the case. Within this work, we have extended the Monte Carlo particle transport code SHIELD-HIT12A to provide dose- and track-average LET-maps for ion radiation therapy treatment plans.