FLASH radiotherapy with photon beams

Abstract

Ultra-high-dose rate “FLASH” radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) has been shown to drastically reduce normal tissue toxicities while being as efficacious as conventional dose rate radiotherapy to treat tumors. A large number of preclinical studies describing this so-called FLASH effect have led to the clinical translation of FLASH-RT using ultra-high-dose rate electron and proton beams. Although the vast majority of radiation therapy treatments are delivered using X-rays, few preclinical data using ultra-high-dose rate X-ray irradiation have been published. This review focuses on different methods that can be used to generate ultra-high-dose rate X-rays and their beam characteristics along with their effect on the biological tissues and the perspectives for the development of FLASH-RT with X-rays.