The role of nuclear reactions in Monte Carlo calculations of absorbed and biological effective dose distributions in hadron therapy

Monte Carlo codes are rapidly spreading among hadron therapy community due to their sophisticated nuclear/electromagnetic models which allow an improved description of the complex mixed radiation field produced by nuclear reactions in therapeutic irradiation. In this contribution results obtained with the Monte Carlo code FLUKA are presented focusing on the production of secondary fragments in carbon ion interaction with water and on CT-based calculations of absorbed and biological effective dose for typical clinical situations. The results of the simulations are compared with the available experimental data and with the predictions of the GSI analytical treatment planning code TRiP.