Multiscale physics of ion-induced radiation damage

This is a review of a multiscale approach to the physics of ion-beam cancer therapy, an approach suggested in order to understand the interplay of a large number of phenomena involved in the radiation damage scenario occurring on a range of temporal, spatial, and energy scales. We describe different effects that take place on different scales and play major roles in the scenario of interaction of ions with tissue. The understanding of these effects allows an assessment of relative biological effectiveness that relates the physical quantities, such as dose, to the biological values, such as the probability of cell survival.

► The interdisciplinary science of IBCT relates biodamage with physical parameters.
► The multiscale approach is designed for understanding the mechanisms of biodamage.
► Distributions of damage complexity and dose lead to alternative survival curves.
► Thermomechanical mechanism of radiation damage with ions has to be accounted for.
► Studying of germane effects is the key to the quantitative assessment of biodamage.