Particle accelerators for radiotherapy - Present status and future

The paper describes the development of the application of particle accelerators in the treatment of cancer diseases over the past fifty years. Special emphasis is put on the routine application of conventional electron accelerators delivering electron and photon beams. This is the largest group of devices for radiotherapy (over 7500 machines operating worldwide). The number of patients reaches 5 million per year. The medical electron linacs have recently undergone considerable modifications of construction, in particular the systems of radiation field shaping. Contemporary accelerators for radiotherapy are equipped with multi-leaf collimators (MLC) which, in conjunction with IMRT (Intensity Modulation Radiation Therapy) technique and special system of therapy planning, assure considerably higher precision, effectiveness and quality of treatment.