Abstract
Biological studies with negative pions have been motivated almost exclusively by their therapeutic potential. There are basically two biological characteristics of negative pions which could prove useful for cancer management, 1) Negative pions have a lower oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) in the Bragg region as compared with conventional radiations, and the variation in sensitivity throughout the cell cycle is reduced with pions. In certain cases, this could produce an increased effect on malignant cells relative to normal cells. 2) The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of pions in the Bragg region can be greater than that in the entrance region. This coupled with the good localization properties of pions could minimize the damage to normal tissues outside of the treatment volume.
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Dicello, J.F. (1980). Radiobiological Effects of Pions. In: Thomas, R.H., Perez-Mendez, V. (eds) Advances in Radiation Protection and Dosimetry in Medicine. Ettore Majorana International Science Series, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1715-0_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1715-0_21
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