Radiobiological quantities in proton-therapy: Estimation and validation using Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulations

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Biology
• Computational Science

Background:

• Proton beam therapy offers precise dose delivery for cancer treatment.
• Accurate modeling of radiobiological effects is crucial for optimizing proton therapy.
• Monte Carlo simulations are valuable tools for predicting radiation interactions in biological systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit for simulating radiobiological parameters.
• To assess Geant4's accuracy in reproducing cell survival fractions under proton irradiation.
• To compare simulation results with experimental data for different cancer cell lines.

Main Methods:

• Simulated experimental setups using an open-source Geant4 application.
• Calculated cell survival fractions by coupling Geant4 with the Local Effect Model (LEM) and a semi-empirical model.
• Irradiated three distinct cancerous cell lines with monochromatic and clinical proton beams.

Main Results:

• Geant4 simulations successfully reproduced experimentally measured radiobiological parameters.
• The simulation results showed good agreement with experimental data across different cell lines.
• Both the LEM and semi-empirical models, when coupled with Geant4, provided accurate predictions.

Conclusions:

• Geant4 is a reliable tool for simulating and predicting radiobiological outcomes in proton therapy.
• The study confirms Geant4's capability to model complex biological responses to proton irradiation.
• Validated simulation methods can enhance the planning and efficacy of proton cancer treatments.