Title: Radiotherapy with Heavy Ion Beams at HIT Speaker: Oliver Jäkel, Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany Time: Wednesday 1st February, 2012 at 3:15 p.m. Place: Physics Auditorium, 3rd floor, Department of Physics Abstract Since 1997, the Heidelberg University Hospital is the only hospital in Europe offering radiotherapy with Carbon ion beams. This therapy was available only for a very limited number of patients during a pilot project performed at the heavy Ion laboratory GSI (Gesellschaft für Schwerionen-forschung) in Darmstadt. This project was a joint research project with the University hospital Heidelberg, GSI and DKFZ. Up to 2008 440 patients had been treated with Carbon ions. Due to the very promising clinical results gained in that project, the construction of a hospital based facility for proton and ion beam therapy in Heidelberg was initiated by the project partners already in 1998. This Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy center (HIT) started clinical operation in 2009 and is one of the leading institutions in this field worldwide. It features 3 treatment rooms as well as an experimental room, all equipped with a beam scanning system, allowing a highly precise beam delivery. In the first year of operation nearly 200 patients have already been treated mainly with carbon but also with pro-ton therapy. Besides these fixed beam rooms, also the world’s first heavy ion gantry is available. Irradiation, not only with protons and carbon ions, but also with helium or oxygen ions, is available for investigations of their radiobiological properties. To support image guided radiotherapy, robot based imaging and patient positioning systems are implemented. In my talks an overview will be given of the physical and clinical aspects of ion beam therapy as well as an overview over the HIT facility and the research perspectives in ion beam therapy. _____ Coffee/tea and cake will be served at 3 p.m. David Field