Helium Ion Therapy - From Berkeley to Heidelberg

Radiotherapy with ion beams has been pioneered in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California, which was established by Ernest Lawrence, who invented the cyclotron in 1930. Medical applications of cyclotrons have been explored at LBNL as early as 1935 and in 1954 the first patient has been treated with a 146MeV proton beam. Already in 1955, the first Helium beams have been used for radiotherapy. In the 1970ies and 1980ies, then based on a synchrotron, treatments with heavier ions up to silicon has been explored in clinical trials. Most treatment facilities following Berkeley, were based mainly on protons and some on carbon ions, but little to no attention has been paid to other ions. Only recently the interest in Helium ion beams has reemerged and has recently been introduced as a tool for regular treatments at the Heidelberg ion beam therapy center at the university medical center. The talk gives an overview on the history and the clinical rationale for Helium ions, as well as the efforts made, to realize it at HIT.