Tumour irradiation in mice with a laser-accelerated proton beam

• Published in: Nature physics Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 316 - 322
• Main Authors: Kroll, Florian, Brack, Florian-Emanuel, Bernert, Constantin, Bock, Stefan, Bodenstein, Elisabeth, Brüchner, Kerstin, Cowan, Thomas E., Gaus, Lennart, Gebhardt, René, Helbig, Uwe, Karsch, Leonhard, Kluge, Thomas, Kraft, Stephan, Krause, Mechthild, Lessmann, Elisabeth, Masood, Umar, Meister, Sebastian, Metzkes-Ng, Josefine, Nossula, Alexej, Pawelke, Jörg, Pietzsch, Jens, Püschel, Thomas, Reimold, Marvin, Rehwald, Martin, Richter, Christian, Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter, Schramm, Ulrich, Umlandt, Marvin E. P., Ziegler, Tim, Zeil, Karl, Beyreuther, Elke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.03.2022; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/766/1960/1135; 639/766/1960/1137; 639/766/747; Animal models; Atomic; Classical and Continuum Physics; Complex Systems; Condensed Matter Physics; In vivo methods and tests; Irradiation; Lasers; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Proton beams; Radiation; Radiation dosage; Radiation effects; Theoretical; Tumors
• ISSN: 1745-2473; 1745-2481
• DOI: 10.1038/s41567-022-01520-3

Recent oncological studies identified beneficial properties of radiation applied at ultrahigh dose rates, several orders of magnitude higher than the clinical standard of the order of Gy min –1 . Sources capable of providing these ultrahigh dose rates are under investigation. Here we show that a stable, compact laser-driven proton source with energies greater than 60 MeV enables radiobiological in vivo studies. We performed a pilot irradiation study on human tumours in a mouse model, showing the concerted preparation of mice and laser accelerator, dose-controlled, tumour-conform irradiation using a laser-driven as well as a clinical reference proton source, and the radiobiological evaluation of irradiated and unirradiated mice for radiation-induced tumour growth delay. The prescribed homogeneous dose of 4 Gy was precisely delivered at the laser-driven source. The results demonstrate a complete laser-driven proton research platform for diverse user-specific small animal models, able to deliver tunable single-shot doses up to around 20 Gy to millimetre-scale volumes on nanosecond timescales, equivalent to around 10 9  Gy s –1 , spatially homogenized and tailored to the sample. The platform provides a unique infrastructure for translational research with protons at ultrahigh dose rates. A laser–plasma accelerator provides proton beams for the precise irradiation of human tumours in a mouse model. This work advances translational research with ultrahigh proton dose rates at laser-driven sources.