ArticlePhysics in medicine and biology2015
A phenomenological relative biological effectiveness (RBE) model for proton therapy based on all published in vitro cell survival data.
Article in Physics in medicine and biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 143 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
143 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 326 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ensemble RBE Modeling in Proton Therapy: A Meta-Synthesis Framework for Dose Assessment in the Brainstem and Spinal Cord.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterPooled it
- Dose-Linear Energy Transfer Interactions Predict Capsular Contracture After Proton Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2026Article
- Dynamic Proton arc therapy for paediatric parameningeal rhabdomyosarcoma.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2026Article
- Article
- DNA damage complexity as a predictor of cell survival: a microscopic Monte Carlo-based modeling framework for photon, proton and carbon ion irradiation.Physics in medicine and biology · 2026Article
- Robust Four-Field and Arc LET-Optimized Proton Prostate Cancer Treatment Plans With Urethral Sparing.International journal of particle therapy · 2026Article
- Neural network modelling of proton RBE values at predominant survival fractions of in vitro data.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Mid-range arc therapy for efficient and RBE-robust proton treatment.Physics in medicine and biology · 2026Article
- From Photons to Protons in Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Journey of Transition, Awe, Challenge, and Renewed Hope.International journal of particle therapy · 2026Article
- Investigation of relative biological effectiveness for protons, carbon and oxygen ion beams by DNA damage calculations in a fractal fibroblast cell geometry.Radiological physics and technology · 2026Article
- Predicting DNA damage yields and assessing beam quality for protons and carbon ions using a DBSCAN algorithm.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Quantitative analysis of robustness-based versus LET-based optimization in intensity-modulated proton therapy for pediatric brain tumors.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2026Article
- Commissioning of a Monte Carlo-based scanning proton beam for breast cancer: Incorporating LETd calculations and variable RBE models.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2026Article
- Poly ADP Ribose Polymerase Inhibitors Potentiate Proton Therapy End-of-Range Effects by Accelerating Replication Forks and Promoting Transcription Conflict.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2026Article
- Microdosimetric characterization of proton relative biological effectiveness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- A computational method to estimate the relative biological effectiveness and tumor control probability for low-LET proton irradiations.PloS one · 2026Article
- Evaluation of organ-specific relative biological effectiveness of proton therapy using radiation-induced pneumonitis as an endpoint.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Distinct molecular responses of human intestinal organoids to proton and photon radiation.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Extending the microdosimetry gamma model (MGM) to estimate induced DNA damage and its complexity at macroscopic scale by protons and helium ions.Physics in medicine and biology · 2025Article
83 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Proton therapy treatments are currently planned and delivered using the assumption that the proton relative biological effectiveness (RBE) relative to photons is 1.1. This assumption ignores strong experimental evidence that suggests the RBE varies along the treatment field, i.e. with linear energy transfer (LET) and with tissue type. A recent review study collected over 70 experimental reports on proton RBE, providing a comprehensive dataset for predicting RBE for cell survival. Using this dataset we developed a model to predict proton RBE based on dose, dose average LET (LETd) and the ratio of the linear-quadratic model parameters for the reference radiation (α/β)x, as the tissue specific parameter. The proposed RBE model is based on the linear quadratic model and was derived from a nonlinear regression fit to 287 experimental data points. The proposed model predicts that the RBE increases with increasing LETd and decreases with increasing (α/β)x. This agrees with previous theoretical predictions on the relationship between RBE, LETd and (α/β)x. The model additionally predicts a decrease in RBE with increasing dose and shows a relationship between both α and β with LETd. Our proposed phenomenological RBE model is derived using the most comprehensive collection of proton RBE experimental data to date. Previously published phenomenological models, based on a limited data set, may have to be revised.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.