New insights on clinical perspectives of FLASH radiotherapy: from low- to very high electron energy

Abstract

Radiotherapy (RT) is performed in approximately 75% of patients with cancer, and its efficacy is often hampered by the low tolerance of the surrounding normal tissues. Recent advancements have demonstrated the potential to widen the therapeutic window using “very short” radiation treatment delivery (from a conventional dose rate between 0.5 Gy/min and 2 Gy/min to more than 40 Gy/s) causing a significant increase of normal tissue tolerance without varying the tumor effect. This phenomenon is called “FLASH Effect (FE)” and has been discovered by using electrons. Although several physical, dosimetric, and radiobiological aspects need to be clarified, current preclinical “in vivo” studies have reported a significant protective effect of FLASH RT on neurocognitive function, skin toxicity, lung fibrosis, and bowel injury. Therefore, the current radiobiological premises lay the foundation for groundbreaking potentials in clinical translation, which could be addressed to an initial application of Low Energy Electron FLASH (LEE) for the treatment of superficial tumors to a subsequent Very High Energy Electron FLASH (VHEE) for the treatment of deep tumors. Herein, we report a clinical investigational scenario that, if supported by preclinical studies, could be drawn in the near future.