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Heavy ions damage DNA Medical physicists in Canada have discovered that heavy-ion-beam cancer therapy can cause more damage to healthy DNA than previously believed. The harm is caused by low-energy secondary particles rather than the heavy ions themselves. The results could help medical physicists develop more accurate dose models for heavy-ion therapy (Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 153201).
Heavy-ion-beam cancer therapy employs protons or ions such as argon and neon that have energies of about 1 MeV per nucleon.
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