FLASH Radiotherapy: Technical Advances, Evidence of the FLASH Effect and Mechanistic Insights.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, responsible for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, with approximately 50% of patients receiving radiation therapy as part of their treatment (Baskar et al 2012). Preclinical investigations studies have shown that FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT), delivering radiation in ultra-high dose rates (UHDR), preserves healthy tissue integrity and reduces toxicity, all while maintaining an effective tumor response compared to conventional radiotherapy (CONV-RT), the combined biological benefit was termed as FLASH effect. This article comprehensively surveys pertinent research conducted within FLASH-RT, explores the facilities used in this realm, delves into hypothesized mechanism perspectives, and addresses the challenges to trigger the FLASH effect.

Simulation of the 6 MV Elekta Synergy Platform linac photon beam using Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission.

The present work validates the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission Monte Carlo software for the simulation of a 6 MV photon beam given by Elekta Synergy Platform medical linear accelerator treatment head. The simulation includes the major components of the linear accelerator (LINAC) with multi-leaf collimator and a homogeneous water phantom. Calculations were performed for the photon beam with several treatment field sizes ranging from 5 cm × 5 cm to 30 cm × 30 cm at 100 cm distance from the source.