Multiscale physics of ion-induced radiation damage

This is a review of a multiscale approach to the physics of ion-beam cancer therapy, an approach suggested in order to understand the interplay of a large number of phenomena involved in the radiation damage scenario occurring on a range of temporal, spatial, and energy scales. We describe different effects that take place on different scales and play major roles in the scenario of interaction of ions with tissue. The understanding of these effects allows an assessment of relative biological effectiveness that relates the physical quantities, such as dose, to the biological values, such as the probability of cell survival. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.