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Green Light For The Marketing Of The First
Superconductive Cyclotron For Hadrontherapy
Rome, Italy, July 23: The agreement between the
Italian National Institute for
Nuclear Physics and the Belgian firm Iba for the marketing, in the
biomedical field, of the first superconductive cyclotron producing protons and
carbon ions, has been made official today. The innovative project, that was
developed by the Infn Southern National Laboratories and realized with the
contribution of the Iba specific twenty-year experience in the field of
cyclotrons for medical applications, was conceived for the hospital centres of
oncological hadrontherapy.
Hadrontherapy is one of the most refined radiotherapic technique for tumours
treatment. It uses hadrons, that is to say charged particles made up from
quarks, as protons and ions. These particles, contrary to what occurs in
radiotherapy, can be directed with precision against the tumour mass, with
minimum risks to hit vital organs and surrounding healthy tissues. In particular
ions have a higher radiobiological effect: they can hit in fact deep tumours,
for this reason they are particular indicated for radioresistent tumours, such
as cerebral tumours, the ones of the head-neck area and lung and pancreas
carcinoma. Therapy with protons is instead indicated for tumours located near
organs at risk, such as eye, head base, or along the backbone, because they
allow to direct the beam form in a more refined way.
Up until today the only instruments able to produce protons and ions as well for
hadrontherapy are synchrotrons: accelerators machines, much more complex,
bulkier and expensive than cyclotrons. A synchrotron consists indeed of a ring
with a diameter of at least 25 metres, while a cyclotron is a compact instrument
with a diameter of 5 metres and with a considerably lower cost. In the context
of its studies for the development of new syncrotrons, Infn has worked for the
development of a multiparticle cyclotron, able to provide protons and carbon
ions with the energy required for hadrontherapic treatments. "The new cyclotron
offers a great technological advantage. Thanks to it, for the first time a
doctor will have the opportunity to choose to produce ions or protons, according
to the kind of tumour, with a compact, easily to manage and decidedly cheaper
instrument than the traditional one. With the ions produced by this new machine,
it will possible to treat tumours at a maximum depth of 18 centimetres", explain
Giacomo Cuttone and Luciano Calabretta of Infn Southern National Laboratories.
There are in the world several centres for hadrontherapy, most of all in Japan
and in the United States. In Italy there is the sperimental project Catana (Hadrontherapy
Centre and Advanced Nuclear Applications). Started at the Infn Southern National
Laboratories in cooperation with Catania University, Catana is dedicated to the
treatment with protons of eye tumour (up today the treated patients are 112).
Concerning hadrontherapy with ions, there are in Europe two structures under
construction: one is the Heidelberg University clinic, in Germany, the other is
the National Centre of Hadrontherapy that will rise in Pavia, from the
collaboration between the Cnao foundation and Infn.
The new cyclotron developed by Infn and realized by Iba will be able to enrich
the therapeutic power of hadrontherapy centres.
About the ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE (INFN)
The INFN is a public institute of research in nuclear and subnuclear physics.
The INFN has four national laboratories (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso,
Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Laboratori
Nazionali di Frascati) and operates in many italian universities. It has
collaborations all over the world.
http://www.infn.it
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