Clinical and research validity of hadrontherapy with ion beams

Clinical results obtained with hadrontherapy have been extremely positive for various tumours, with percentages of local control and survival higher than those ascribed to conventional radiotherapy. Most clinical data obtained with charged particles are related to protontherapy but the implementation of carbon ion therapy has demonstrated to be of great interest in the last decade. These results, accompanied by the new performances in accelerator technology and calculation systems of the delivered doses, have determined over the past years an increased interest for the development of hadrontherapy, with the construction of new centres provided with equipment entirely dedicated to clinical activity (LLUMC, Loma Linda and NPTC, Boston in USA, HIMAC-NIRS, Chiba, PROBEAT, Tsukuba, and Hyogo Beam Medical Centres in Japan). A revision of the clinical indications specifically focused on ion therapy is presented as well as the results obtained in the different centres. With hadrontherapy, it is finally possible to increase the spectrum of treatments allowing preserving the organ and its functionality, with positive impacts from a social and economic point of view.