2　The Basis of the Particle Beam Therapy

Abstract

The particle beam therapy has the excellent physical and biological characteristics that are very different from the X-ray used mainly in conventional radiotherapy. Therefore, the particle therapy can treat loco-regional lesions more strongly with less toxicity than conventional radiotherapy. In recent years in Japan, we can use proton and carbon ion as a particle beam therapy. In this article, we describe the overview of the basis, the advantage and weak points about the particle beam therapy, and the differences between proton and carbon ion therapy.