NPL PPRIG Proton Therapy Physics Workshop 2016

1 – 2 December 2016

The third Proton Physics Research and Implementation Group (PPRIG) workshop was held at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 December 2016.

Invited talks were given by Gillies McKenna, Hakan Nystrom, Harald Paganetti, Hywel Owen, Karen Kirkby, Kevin Prise, Marcel Van Herk, Nigel Allinson, Russell Thomas, Stuart Green, Thomas Mee and Tony Lomax, and covered areas including:

• Absolute dosimetry of proton beams
• Development of the UK IPEM code of practice for proton beam therapy
• Clinical imaging challenges
• Radiobiology
• Experiences of opening a new proton centre
• Range uncertainties

In addition to presentations by the invited speakers, there were approximately 20 proffered talks.

Meeting Agenda

Presentations

Session 1: Dosimetry

• Invited: Graphite Calorimeter/Collaboration with Clatterbridge – Russell Thomas
• Update: Development of the UK IPEM code of practice for proton beam therapy – Stuart Green
• Mailed dosimetry auditing in Proton Therapy – Eurados intercomparison of passive dosimeter response in proton spot scanning beam – M De Saint-Hubert
• Comparing proton energy depositions simulated using TOPAS-nBio to experimental measurements implemented using fluorescent nuclear track detectors – Tracy Underwood
• Experimental evaluation of the water-equivalence of novel plastic materials in clinical proton beams – Ana Lourenço

Session 2: Imaging

• Energy Boost for Imaging – Hywel Owen
• Tumor edge identification through multiple Bragg peak detection in carbon therapy – Marta F Dias
• CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for imaging in proton radiotherapy – M Esposito
• An optimization method for pre-treatment patient-specific stopping-power by combining proton radiography and X-ray CT – Charles-Antoine Collins-Fekete
• Clinical imaging challenges for proton therapy – Marcel Van Herk
• Pravda project imaging update – Nigel Allinson
• Characterization and Dosimetric Evaluation of a Prototype Proton CT Scanner – Valentina Giacometti
• The Impact of Using Dual-Energy CT for Determining Proton Stopping Powers of Real Tissues – Esther Bär
• Accurate Monte Carlo inputs for dose calculation using multi-energy CT – Arthur Lalonde

Session 3: Proton treatment

• Invited: Patient Selection – Thomas Mee
• Adaptive Proton Therapy Dose Calculations on Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Imaging – Brian Winey
• Testing the effect of breathing variability on proton therapy plans and motion mitigation techniques – Ho Lok Man

Session 4: RBE

• Invited: Clinical considerations of RBE in proton therapy – Harald Paganetti
• Clinical evidence that end-of-range proton RBE exceeds 1.1: lung density changes following chest RT – Tracy Underwood
• Improved understanding of radiotoxicity in charged particle therapy using Geant4 simulations – Roger Barlow
• Invited: Mapping RBE effects at the cellular level: relevance for fractionated proton radiotherapy – Kevin Prise
• Predicting proton induced DNA damage through nanodosimetric simulations and the relevance of chromatin structure – Nicholas T Henthorn
• Proton Induced Complex DNA Damage: In Silico Modelling of Repair Using Geant4-DNA – John W Warmenhoven

Session 5: Facility

• Invited: Some challenges for a physicist to overcome when starting up a new proton facility – Hakan Nyström
• The Christie Proton Therapy Research Facility – M J Merchant
• HEATHER - HElium ion Accelerator for radioTHERapy – Jordan Taylor

Session 6: Range verification

• Invited: Myths and realities of range uncertainty in proton therapy – Tony Lomax
• The lateral edge of proton beams: Clinical relevance and current developments – Adam Aitkenhead
• A pilot study on the possibility of RadICAL in in-vivo range verification in proton therapy – Savanna Chung
• Proton Calorimetry for Range Quality Assurance – Simon Jolly
• Estimation of range uncertainties in proton therapy associated with sub-CT resolution heterogeneity – Sumaria Nazir
• Imaging of prompt gamma emissions during proton cancer therapy for geometric and dosimetric verification: Optimisation of Compton Camera system – Benjamin Le Crom
• Invited: Network and collaboration – Karen Kirkby