{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,22]],"date-time":"2026-01-22T04:15:24Z","timestamp":1769055324284,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"IOP Publishing","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768953600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768953600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/info\/page\/text-and-data-mining"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["iopscience.iop.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomed. Phys. Eng. Express"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Objective<\/jats:italic>\n                    . In photon beam radiotherapy, modern delivery techniques have allowed to substantially reduce the beam energy needed for the safe and efficient irradiation of deep-seated targets, with even Co-60 beams being now able to irradiate targets at any depth. The purpose of this work is to determine if for electron radiotherapy, advanced beam delivery techniques allow the use of beam energies currently available in the clinic to treat target sites usually reserved for photons or very high energy charged particles.\n                    <jats:italic>Methods<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Segmented computed tomography images from three sites, brain, lung and prostate, were used to model radiotherapy treatments in two modalities: conformal 3D and converging small field. Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the absorbed dose distribution in each patient for conformal 3D very-high energy plans and converging small-field, low energy (&lt; 50 MeV) electrons. For comparison, converging small field plans for 6 MV x-ray beams were also calculated.\n                    <jats:italic>Main results<\/jats:italic>\n                    . It is shown that , for the three test cases simulated in this work, electrons with energies in the 20\u201325 MeV range delivered via the converging small-field modality can produce treatment plans that rival those obtained via conformal very high energy electrons in terms of target dose homogeneity and sparing of the organs at risk. Furthermore, such electron plans also compare well to those obtained with the photon beams.\n                    <jats:italic>Significance<\/jats:italic>\n                    . While the consensus has always been that to reach deeper tumors, higher electron energies, in the order of 150\u2013200 MeV are needed, this work shows that this is not the case and, when small, circular electron fields are delivered in a converging manner, energies below 30 MeV are enough to properly irradiate tumors located at relevant radiological depths for a variety of treatment sites.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T22:48:24Z","timestamp":1768344504000},"page":"015048","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Converging small-field electron therapy using 20\u201325 MeV electrons: a Monte Carlo feasibility study for deep-seated tumors"],"prefix":"10.1088","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9800-4856","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"H\u00e9ctor M","family":"Garnica-Garza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"266","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"bpexae3764bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1186\/s13014-016-0754-z","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Present state and issues in IORT Physics","volume":"12","author":"Hensley","year":"2017","journal-title":"Radiat. Oncol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1781","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/45\/7\/306","type":"journal-article","article-title":"150-250 MeV electron beams in radiation therapy","volume":"45","author":"DesRosiers","year":"2000","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1177\/153303460200100202","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Very high energy electrons (50-250 MeV) and radiation therapy","volume":"1","author":"Papiez","year":"2002","journal-title":"Technol. Cancer Res. Treat."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phro.2024.100670","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Treatment planning for very high energy electrons: Studies that indicate the potential of the modality","volume":"32","author":"Bedford","year":"2024","journal-title":"Phys. Imaging Radiat. Oncol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.radonc.2024.110177","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Very high-energy electron therapy as light-particle alternative to transmission proton FLASH therapy\u2014An evaluation of dosimetric performances","volume":"194","author":"B\u00f6hlen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Radiother. Oncol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apradiso.2014.07.018","type":"journal-article","article-title":"In fluence of the electron energy and number of beams on the absorbed dose distributions in radiotherapy of deep-seated targets","volume":"94","author":"Garnica-Garza","year":"2014","journal-title":"Appl. Radiat. Isot."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers17020181","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Very high-energy electron therapy toward clinical implementation","volume":"17","author":"Panaino","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cancers"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5745","DOI":"10.1002\/mp.16586","type":"journal-article","article-title":"3D-conformal very-high energy electron therapy as candidate modality for FLASH-RT: A treatment planning study for glioblastoma and lung cancer","volume":"50","author":"B\u00f6hlen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0307088","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Insights into the dosimetric and geometric characteristics of stereotactic radiosurgery for multiple brain metastasis: a systematic review","volume":"19","author":"Mukwada","year":"2024","journal-title":"PlosOne"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1038\/s42005-021-00536-0","type":"journal-article","article-title":"An experimental study of focused very high energy electron beams for radiotherapy","volume":"4","author":"Kokurewicz","year":"2021","journal-title":"Comm. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5844","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-85451-8","type":"journal-article","article-title":"A focused very high energy electron beam for fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy","volume":"11","author":"Svendsen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Rep."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4466","DOI":"10.1002\/mp.16423","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Commissioning and dosimetric validation of a novel compensator-based Co-60 IMRT system for evaluating suitability to automated treatment planning","volume":"50","author":"Oh","year":"2023","journal-title":"Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"983","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/61\/2\/983","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Stereotactic breast irradiation with kilovoltage x-ray beams","volume":"61","author":"Garnica-Garza","year":"2016","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1224","DOI":"10.1002\/mp.12140","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Feasibility of robotic stereotactic body radiotherapy of lung tumors with kilovoltage x-ray beams","volume":"44","author":"S\u00e1nchez-Arreola","year":"2017","journal-title":"Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1045","DOI":"10.1007\/s10278-013-9622-7","type":"journal-article","article-title":"The cancer imaging archive (TCIA): maintaining and operating a public information repository","volume":"26","author":"Clark","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Digit. Imaging"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lungcan.2015.04.014","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for treatment of central and ultra-central lung tumors","volume":"89","author":"Chaudhuri","year":"2015","journal-title":"Lung Cancer"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1118\/1.597290","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Computerized three-dimensional segmented human anatomy","volume":"21","author":"Zubal","year":"1994","journal-title":"Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/52\/3\/001","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Conversion of CT numbers into tissue parameters for Monte Carlo dose calculations: a multi-centre study","volume":"52","author":"Vanderstraeten","year":"2007","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/acm2.14411","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Linac- and CyberKnife-based MRI-only treatment planning of prostate SBRT using an optimized synthetic CT calibration curve","volume":"25","author":"Scholey","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib20","volume":"vol 44","author":"ICRU","year":"1989","type":"book"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejmp.2012.12.006","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Monte Carlo modeling of converging small-field contrast-enhanced radiotherapy of prostate","volume":"29","author":"Garnica-Garza","year":"2013","journal-title":"Phys. Med."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib22","type":"conference-proceedings","article-title":"A code system for Monte Carlo simulations of electron and photon transport","volume":"vol 2006","author":"Salvat","year":"2006"},{"key":"bpexae3764bib23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5887","DOI":"10.1118\/1.3643029","type":"journal-article","article-title":"A PENELOPE-based system for the automated Monte Carlo simulation of clinacs and voxelized geometries- application to far-from-axis fields","volume":"38","author":"Sempau","year":"2011","journal-title":"Med. Phys."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1088\/0266-5611\/4\/3\/006","type":"journal-article","article-title":"On the use of Cimmino\u2019s simultaneous projection method for computing a solution of the inverse problem in radiation therapy treatment planning","volume":"4","author":"Censor","year":"1988","journal-title":"Inverse Prob."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejmp.2023.103202","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Homogenous dose prescription in gamma knife radiotherapy: combining the best of both worlds","volume":"117","author":"Spaniol","year":"2024","journal-title":"Phys. Med."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1186\/s13014-024-02416-7","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Dosimetric evaluation of LINAC-based single-isocenter multi-target multi-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery with more than 20 targets: comparing MME, HyperArc, and RapidArc","volume":"19","author":"Jung","year":"2024","journal-title":"Radiat. Oncol."},{"key":"bpexae3764bib27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"212","DOI":"10.1016\/j.radonc.2021.05.001","type":"journal-article","article-title":"First experimental evaluation of multi-target multileaf collimator tracking during volumetric modulated arc therapy for locally advanced prostate cancer","volume":"160","author":"Hewson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Radioth. Oncol."}],"container-title":["Biomedical Physics &amp; Engineering Express"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"am","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"am","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"am","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"am","intended-application":"similarity-checking"},{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T12:16:14Z","timestamp":1768997774000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"references-count":27,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/2057-1976\/ae3764","relation":{},"ISSN":["2057-1976"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2057-1976","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Converging small-field electron therapy using 20\u201325 MeV electrons: a Monte Carlo feasibility study for deep-seated tumors","name":"article_title","label":"Article Title"},{"value":"Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express","name":"journal_title","label":"Journal Title"},{"value":"paper","name":"article_type","label":"Article Type"},{"value":"\u00a9 2026 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd","name":"copyright_information","label":"Copyright Information"},{"value":"2025-11-14","name":"date_received","label":"Date Received","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-01-13","name":"date_accepted","label":"Date Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-01-21","name":"date_epub","label":"Online publication date","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}}]}}