The BioALTO project has just been selected under the 2025 SESAME regional call for projects, with a grant of €197k from the Île-de-France Region. Jointly led by the Health Physics and Accelerator Physics divisions of IJCLab, it aims to establish an experimental platform dedicated to preclinical research in hadron therapy and radiobiology, with commissioning planned for 2027.
Hadron therapy: a targeted approach against cancer
Hadron therapy is a radiotherapy technique that uses beams of charged particles (protons, carbon ions, etc.) rather than conventional X-rays. These particles have the advantage of depositing most of their energy at a precise depth in tissues, corresponding to the tumour location, while better sparing the surrounding healthy areas. To optimise these treatments, it is essential to understand how different types of ions interact with living cells, known as relative biological effectiveness.
A unique facility in France
BioALTO will be installed on ALTO (Accélérateur Linéaire et Tandem à Orsay), capable of producing a wide range of ions of interest for hadron therapy: protons, alpha particles, lithium-7, carbon-12 and oxygen. This diversity, complementary to other national infrastructures, will enable the study of the relative biological effectiveness of all these ions at a single site, using a double-scattering beamline producing homogeneous irradiation fields of 2 cm in diameter with dose rates of 2 Gy/min.
Diagram of the BioALTO beamline operation
The system will integrate sophisticated control and dosimetry tools (diamond counters, scintillating fibres, silicon microdosimeters, radiochromic films) for the precise measurement of doses and linear energy transfer. A temperature-controlled enclosure, equipped with a robotic arm, will allow remote handling of cell samples, while a cell culture room set up nearby will ensure their preparation, storage and analysis.
Partnerships of excellence in the service of therapeutic innovation
The project builds on the strong involvement of teams from Gustave Roussy, Europe's leading cancer centre, whose expertise in oncology, medical physics and radiobiology is internationally recognised. National collaborations with IN2P3 laboratories (IP2I, LPSC, Subatech, LLR) as well as Institut Curie and ISMO, combined with international collaborations with the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM), the IFJ PAN laboratory and the CCB proton therapy centre in Krakow, complete this consortium. BioALTO will thus meet the growing demand expressed by the Île-de-France scientific community engaged in the search for innovative cancer therapies.