Using a radiopharmaceutical production cyclotron for radiobiological research
Abstract
The Laboratory for High Energy Physics and the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Bern are establishing a pre-clinical proton therapy research facility at the Bern University Hospital (Inselspital). The facility centers on the Bern Medical Cyclotron, an 18 MeV compact cyclotron designed for microampere-range beam currents for radioisotope production. The Bern Medical Cyclotron can be adapted as a highly accessible and customizable platform for pre-clinical proton therapy research, enabling advanced modalities such as ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy and spatially fractionated radiation therapy. Human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and mouse melanoma (B16-F10) cell lines were irradiated with 8.14(29) MeV protons at conventional dose rates and with 225 kV X-rays at doses from 0 to 8 Gy. Clonogenic survival assays were analyzed using the linear-quadratic model, and relative biological effectiveness values were derived by comparing the proton and X-ray doses required for 0.1 survival. Proton irradiation yielded steeper survival curves than X-rays, indicating higher cytotoxicity. B16-F10 cells were most sensitive, with a relative biological effectiveness of 1.34 at 0.1 survival, while HaCaT cells showed a relative biological effectiveness of 1.21. These results confirm enhanced proton effectiveness in cell killing and demonstrate that the Bern Medical Cyclotron provides a reliable platform for radiobiological studies. Establishing in vitro proton irradiation capability marks a key milestone toward developing a comprehensive pre-clinical radiobiology research facility in Bern. Ongoing upgrades will further refine dosimetry and proton delivery, paving the way for future FLASH and proton spatially fractionated radiation therapy studies.
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BibTeX
@misc{kasanda2026using,
title = {{Using a radiopharmaceutical production cyclotron for radiobiological research}},
author = {Eva Kasanda and Jan Gruber and Pierluigi Casolaro and Lars Eggimann and Alexander Gottstein and Isidre Mateu and Paolo Pellicioli and Maria Vittoria Rossi and Paola Scampoli and Cristian Fernandez-Palomo and Saverio Braccini},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.37623},
eprint = {2609.37623},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.37623},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Using a radiopharmaceutical production cyclotron for radiobiological research
AU - Eva Kasanda
AU - Jan Gruber
AU - Pierluigi Casolaro
AU - Lars Eggimann
AU - Alexander Gottstein
AU - Isidre Mateu
AU - Paolo Pellicioli
AU - Maria Vittoria Rossi
AU - Paola Scampoli
AU - Cristian Fernandez-Palomo
AU - Saverio Braccini
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.37623
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.37623
AB - The Laboratory for High Energy Physics and the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Bern are establishing a pre-clinical proton therapy research facility at the Bern University Hospital (Inselspital). The facility centers on the Bern Medical Cyclotron, an 18 MeV compact cyclotron designed for microampere-range beam currents for radioisotope production. The Bern Medical Cyclotron can be adapted as a highly accessible and customizable platform for pre-clinical proton therapy research, enabling advanced modalities such as ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy and spatially fractionated radiation therapy. Human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and mouse melanoma (B16-F10) cell lines were irradiated with 8.14(29) MeV protons at conventional dose rates and with 225 kV X-rays at doses from 0 to 8 Gy. Clonogenic survival assays were analyzed using the linear-quadratic model, and relative biological effectiveness values were derived by comparing the proton and X-ray doses required for 0.1 survival. Proton irradiation yielded steeper survival curves than X-rays, indicating higher cytotoxicity. B16-F10 cells were most sensitive, with a relative biological effectiveness of 1.34 at 0.1 survival, while HaCaT cells showed a relative biological effectiveness of 1.21. These results confirm enhanced proton effectiveness in cell killing and demonstrate that the Bern Medical Cyclotron provides a reliable platform for radiobiological studies. Establishing in vitro proton irradiation capability marks a key milestone toward developing a comprehensive pre-clinical radiobiology research facility in Bern. Ongoing upgrades will further refine dosimetry and proton delivery, paving the way for future FLASH and proton spatially fractionated radiation therapy studies.
ER -