Estimate of the risk in radiation therapy due to unwanted neutrons
- 1 March 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Medical Physics
- Vol. 7 (2) , 141-144
- https://doi.org/10.1118/1.594774
Abstract
The integral dose of accelerator-produced leakage neutrons to patients undergoing high-energy photon therapy is estimated and compared to other sources of integral dose. The leakage neutron component contributes about 5 grad (1 rad = 10-2 Gy [gray]) for a typical treatment course of 5000 rad. When averaged over a 70 kg tissue volume, the corresponding dose amounts to only 0.36 rad. The risk of inducing fatal malignancies by leakage neutrons is estimated to about 50 .times. 10-6/yr following treatment. Compared to the other risks to which the patient is unavoidably exposed, the unwanted neutrons pose such small additional risk that regulatory intervention is not warranted. This assessment is performed without reference to neutron RBE [relative biological effectiveness] or quality factor.Funding Information
- U.S. Department of Energy (DE-AC03-765SF00515)
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