A Comprehensive Survey of Proton Beam Therapy Research and Development in Iran

Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is an emerging radiotherapy technique using beams of proton to treat cancer. As the first report addressing the topic, the principal aim is to highlight the present status of PBT research and development in Iran as a developing country.

To do so, the demand for PBT in Iran and Iran National Ion Therapy Center (IRNitc) was investigated and introduced. Then, Scopus and PubMed were searched for studies that dealt with PBT research in Iran and subsequently 6 major subfields of interest were identified. Furthermore, international collaborations were extracted from the bibliographic data. To combine both research and development sides, a SWOT analysis was performed through collecting viewpoints of 48 radiotherapy experts about PBT, and then strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of it were examined.

Iran contributes to approximately 1% of global PBT sciences. Proton dose calculation using Monte Carlo simulation is the dominant subject of interest for Iranian researchers. Italy is recognized as the major foreign partner in PBT researches. Clinical advantages over conventional radiotherapy modalities are the main strength of PBT development in Iran while the high installation cost remains the most weakness. Finally, 10 general considerations for the launching of a PBT facility in Iran were presented based upon both Iranian experts’ viewpoints and IAEA recommendations.

This research reveals that while PBT research and development in Iran are still in their infancy, there are promising trends in both the research and development sides of PBT.