U.K. issues advice on beam therapy

The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) has released guidance on heavy charged particle beam therapy and new radiotherapy technologies.

Clinical scientists, engineers, academics, industry representatives, and funding agency stakeholders have agreed that a facility for heavier charged particle therapy should be developed in the U.K. Building a National Ion Research Centre to develop this therapy has the potential to change clinical practice and improve cancer patient outcomes in the future.

Any facility intended to treat patients must be in a hospital setting, while allowing dedicated space for physics, preclinical biology, and clinical research with beam lines designed for both in vitro and in vivo studies. The facility should to be able to investigate and deliver both ultrahigh dose rate FLASH radiotherapy and spatially fractionated radiation therapy, according to the guidance, which has been published in the British Journal of Radiology.