ABSTRACT

In 1946, barely 27 years after the proton had been discovered by Ernest Rutherford, physicist Robert Wilson was the first to propose treatment with protons and heavy ions for malignant tumors in medicine. Berkeley Radiation Laboratory pioneered particle treatment with the first patients receiving treatment in 1954. More than 2500 patients with various indications were treated with both protons and heavy ions at this institution until closure of its clinical project in 1992. The physical properties of particle beams allowing sharp dose gradients and hence relative dose escalation with reduction of dose to normal organs seems especially appealing in otherwise relatively radioresistant tumors. Early data from the Lawrence Berkeley Labs seemed to clinically support this physical advantage (Castro et al. 1994, 1997; Linstadt et al. 1988; Saunders et al. 1985).