Pre-clinical evaluation of lethal and sublethal DNA damage in human cell cultures by ultrashort pulse and ultra-high dose rate laser accelerated protons

Numerous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using high LET particles in tumor cells; however, the very high installation and operational costs limit the utilization of particle therapy.<br><br>The idea of future facilities based on laser-driven ion accelerators has been proposed as a way of reducing complexity and cost.

Due to the ultra-short duration (10^-12 s) of these beams and their consequent ultra-high dose rates (up to 10^9-10^10 Gy/s), these beams can potentially deliver lethal DNA damaging dose which tumor cells with unstable genome may fail to repair, whilst normal cells are able to repair the same damage.<br><br>This Thesis work, carried on in the context of the international A-SAIL (Advanced Strategies for Accelerate Ions with Lasers) project, aims to optimize and validate the dose distribution of laser-driven proton beams at high energies (~10 MeV) and study the effectiveness of these beams in lethal and sub-lethal damage induction in human cells.