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Updated: Dec 4, 2025
Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
Simulation of dose distribution and secondary particle production in proton therapy of brain tumor
Zahra Hashemi1, Mansoureh Tatari1, Haladhara Naik2
1Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Yazd University, Yazd 89195-741, Iran.
Aim:
The aim of this study is simulation of the proton depth-dose distribution and dose evaluation of secondary particles in proton therapy of brain tumor using the GEANT4 and FLUKA Monte Carlo codes.
Background:
Proton therapy is a treatment method for variety of tumors such as brain tumor. The most important feature of high energy proton beams is the energy deposition as a Bragg curve and the possibility of creating the spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) for full coverage of the tumor.
Materials And Methods:
A spherical tumor with the radius of 1 cm in the brain is considered. A SNYDER head phantom has been irradiated with 30-130 MeV proton beam energy. A PMMA modulator wheel is used for covering the tumor. The simulations are performed using the GEANT4 and FLUKA codes.
Results:
Using a modulator wheel, the Spread Out Bragg Peak longitudinally and laterally covers the tumor. Flux and absorbed dose of secondary particles produced by nuclear interactions of protons with elements in the head are considerably small compared to protons.
Conclusions:
Using 76.85 MeV proton beam and a modulator wheel, the tumor can be treated accurately in the 3-D, so that the distribution of proton dose in the surrounding tissues is very low. The results show that more than 99% of the total dose of secondary particles and protons is absorbed in the tumor.
