Helium-Ion Radiation Therapy at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory: Recent Results of a Northern California Oncology Group Clinical Trial

Abstract

We report on the first decade of the helium-ion radiotherapy clinical trial being carried out at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Over 500 patients have now been treated. We have had very good results to date in treating patients with small tumors critically located near a radiation-sensitive organ which would preclude delivering a curative dose with conventional radiotherapy. On the other hand, patients with larger tumors where the tumor dose cannot be increased more than 10% over conventional radiotherapy have not responded well to helium ion radiotherapy. This is illustrated by discussing selected patient groups in detail, namely those with uveal melanoma, small, low-grade tumors near the central nervous system, carcinoma of the pancreas, and carcinoma of the esophagus.