Proton radiobiology and uncertainties.
This paper briefly reviews proton radiobiology. Clinical applications of protons produced by accelerators have led to a significant biological literature that contributes to our goal of estimating the proton shielding requirements for human interplanetary missions. Protons are primarily a low-LET radiation with biological effects much like gamma radiation. There are however data indicating enhanced biological effectiveness for small doses of very low energy (<10 MeV) stopping protons, and some limited data for extremely high energy protons (>0.5 GeV).
Yang
T C
TC
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
D000818:Animals; D002386:Cataract / Q000209:etiology; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000528:radiation effects; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D018499:Linear Energy Transfer; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000528:radiation effects; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; D011522:Protons; D011853:Radiobiology; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D012639:Seeds / Q000528:radiation effects
D011522:Protons