The benefit of neutrons applied in medicine

New developments in medicine are based essentially on biological but also o n technological research. This applies in particular to medical research an d application in radiotherapy and the use of radionuclides in diagnosis and therapy. Neutrons are seen to be highly efficient in radiotherapy because. thanks to their higher ionization density than that of photons. they are much more e ffective in destroying tumor cells. The neutrons of 1 MeV energy available at the Munich I research reactor can be used only to treat turners in the a rea of the outer surface of the body because of their short depth of penetr ation into patients bodies. Treatment as such is relatively safe, given the properties of neutrons, and the side effects are tolerable as. for instanc e, organs at greater depths are not affected very strongly. In addition to ionizing radiation, for instance from accelerator sources or reactors, both sealed and unsealed radionuclides are widely used in medica l diagnosis and therapy. Once the new FRM II research reactor will have been commissioned, it will b e possible to run neutron therapy under better conditions because more inte nse and more flexible neutron beams will be available. It should also be en deavored to carry out work and examinations with more energetic neutrons so that also tumors inside the body may be treated.