We discuss an experiment to investigate neutrino physics at the LHC, with emphasis on tau flavour. As described in our previous paper Beni et al (2019 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 46 115008), the ...detector can be installed in the decommissioned TI18 tunnel, ≈480 m downstream the ATLAS cavern, after the first bending dipoles of the LHC arc. The detector intercepts the intense neutrino flux, generated by the LHC beams colliding in IP1, at large pseudorapidity η, where neutrino energies can exceed a TeV. This paper focuses on exploring the neutrino pseudorapity versus energy phase space available in TI18 in order to optimize the detector location and acceptance for neutrinos originating at the pp interaction point, in contrast to neutrinos from pion and kaon decays. The studies are based on the comparison of simulated pp collisions at s= 13 TeV: PYTHIA events of heavy quark (c and b) production, compared to DPMJET minimum bias events (including charm) with produced particles traced through realistic LHC optics with FLUKA. Our studies favour a configuration where the detector is positioned off the beam axis, slightly above the ideal prolongation of the LHC beam from the straight section, covering 7.4 < η < 9.2. In this configuration, the flux at high energies (0.5-1.5 TeV and beyond) is found to be dominated by neutrinos originating directly from IP1, mostly from charm decays, of which ≈50% are electron neutrinos and ≈5% are tau neutrinos. The contribution of pion and kaon decays to the muon neutrino flux is found small at those high energies. With 150 fb−1 of delivered LHC luminosity in Run 3 the experiment can record a few thousand very high energy neutrino charged current (CC) interactions and over 50 tau neutrino CC events. These events provide useful information in view of a high statistics experiment at HL-LHC. The electron and muon neutrino samples can extend the knowledge of the charm PDF to a new region of x, which is dominated by theory uncertainties. The tau neutrino sample can provide first experience on reconstruction of tau neutrino events in a very boosted regime.
Neutrinos are abundantly produced in the LHC. Flavour composition and energy reach of the neutrino flux from proton-proton collisions depend on the pseudorapidity . At large , energies can exceed the ...TeV, with a sizeable contribution of the τ flavour. A dedicated detector could intercept this intense neutrino flux in the forward direction, and measure the interaction cross section on nucleons in the unexplored energy range from a few hundred GeV to a few TeV. The high energies of neutrinos result in a larger N interaction cross section, and the detector size can be relatively small. Machine backgrounds vary rapidly while moving along and away from the beam line. Four locations were considered as hosts for a neutrino detector: the CMS quadrupole region (25 m from CMS Interaction Point (IP)), UJ53 and UJ57 (90 and 120 m from CMS IP), RR53 and RR57 (240 m from CMS IP), TI18 (480 m from ATLAS IP). The potential sites are studied on the basis of (a) expectations for neutrino interaction rates, flavour composition and energy spectrum, (b) predicted backgrounds and in situ measurements, performed with a nuclear emulsion detector and radiation monitors. TI18 emerges as the most favourable location. Already with 150 fb−1 expected in LHC Run3, a small detector in TI18 could measure, for the first time and with good precision, the high-energy N cross section for all neutrino flavours.
We report the direct observation of muon neutrino interactions with the SND@LHC detector at the Large Hadron Collider. A dataset of proton-proton collisions at sqrts=13.6 TeV collected by SND@LHC in ...2022 is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.8 fb^{-1}. The search is based on information from the active electronic components of the SND@LHC detector, which covers the pseudorapidity region of 7.2<η<8.4, inaccessible to the other experiments at the collider. Muon neutrino candidates are identified through their charged-current interaction topology, with a track propagating through the entire length of the muon detector. After selection cuts, 8 ν_{μ} interaction candidate events remain with an estimated background of 0.086 events, yielding a significance of about 7 standard deviations for the observed ν_{μ} signal.
Abstract SND@LHC is a compact and stand-alone experiment designed to perform measurements with neutrinos produced at the LHC in the pseudo-rapidity region of 7.2 < η < 8.4. The experiment is located ...480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point, in the TI18 tunnel. The detector is composed of a hybrid system based on an 830 kg target made of tungsten plates, interleaved with emulsion and electronic trackers, also acting as an electromagnetic calorimeter, and followed by a hadronic calorimeter and a muon identification system. The detector is able to distinguish interactions of all three neutrino flavours, which allows probing the physics of heavy flavour production at the LHC in the very forward region. This region is of particular interest for future circular colliders and for very high energy astrophysical neutrino experiments. The detector is also able to search for the scattering of Feebly Interacting Particles. In its first phase, the detector is ready to operate throughout LHC Run 3 and collect a total of 250 fb -1 .
•Oligometastatic sarcomas can be safely and effectively treated with SABR.•One out of 5 patients is free of progression at 2-years after SABR.•SABR can defer the need for systemic therapy with a ...median time of 19,5 months.
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) is emerging as a valid alternative to surgery in the oligometastatic setting in soft tissue sarcomas (STS), although robust data are lacking. The aim of this study is to evaluate toxicity and efficacy of SABR in oligometastatic STS.
This is a retrospective multicenter study including adult patients affected by stage IV STS, treated with SABR for a maximum of 5 cranial or extracranial metastases in up to 3 different organs. SABR was delivered with ablative purposes. Study endpoints were overall survival (OS), local control (LC), distant progression free survival (DPFS), time to polymetastatic progression (TTPP), time to new systemic therapy (TTNS) and toxicity.
From 10 Italian RT centers, 138 patients (202 metastases) treated between 2010 and 2022 were enrolled in the study. Treatment was generally well tolerated, no acute or late toxicity ≥ G3 was recorded. Median follow up was 42.5 months. Median OS was 39.7 months. Actuarial OS at 1 and 2 years was 91.5 % and 72.7 %. Actuarial LC at 1 and 2 years was 94.8 % and 88.0 %. Median DPFS was 9.7 months. Actuarial DPFS at 1 and 2 years was 40.8 % and 19.4 %.
SABR is a safe and effective approach for the treatment of oligometastatic sarcoma. One out of 5 patients is free of progression at 2-years.
After rapid approval and installation, the SND@LHC Collaboration was able to gather data successfully in 2022 and 2023. Neutrino interactions from νμs originating at the LHC IP1 were observed. Since ...muons constitute the major background for neutrino interactions, the muon flux entering the acceptance was also measured. To improve the rejection power of the detector and to increase the fiducial volume, a third Veto plane was recently installed. The energy resolution of the calorimeter system was measured in a test beam. This will help with the identification of νe interactions that can be used to probe charm production in the pseudo-rapidity range of SND@LHC (7.2 < η < 8.4). Events with three outgoing muons have been observed and are being studied. With no vertex in the target, these events are very likely from muon trident production in the rock before the detector. Events with a vertex in the detector could be from trident production, photon conversion, or positron annihilation. To enhance SND@LHC’s physics case, an upgrade is planned for HL-LHC that will increase the statistics and reduce the systematics. The installation of a magnet will allow the separation of νμ from ν¯μ
Background
This study was designed to assess patterns of recurrence and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for localized retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) after neoadjuvant high dose ...long-infusion ifosfamide (HLI) and radiotherapy (RT).
Methods
Patients received three cycles of HLI (14 g/m
2
). RT was started in combination with II cycle up to a total dose of 50.4 Gy. Surgery was scheduled 4–6 weeks after the end of RT. The primary endpoint was relapse-free survival (RFS) after surgery. Secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), crude cumulative incidence of local recurrence (CCI-LR), and distant metastases (CCI-DM). For patients who relapsed, progression-free survival (PFS) and post-relapse OS were estimated. The trial was registered with ITASARC_*II_2004_003.
Results
Between 2003 and 2010, 83 patients were recruited. At a median follow-up of 91.7 months, 42 (56%) of 75 operated patients developed LR (
n
= 27) or DM (
n
= 10) or both LR and DM (
n
= 5) relapse. Seven-year RFS was 46.6% 95% confidence interval (CI) 29.6–52.4. Thirty-two patients died. Seven-year OS rate was 63.2% (95% CI 42.7–66.0). The corresponding CCI of LR and DM were 37.4% standard error (SE) 5.5% and 20.0% (SE 12.6%), respectively. The only factor significantly associated with LR was FNCLCC grading, whereas histological subtype resulted associated with DM. At recurrence, 24 patients (57%) underwent surgery. Two-year post-relapse PFS and OS rates for patients developing LR or DM were 14.8, 41.0, 27.3, and 63.6%, respectively.
Conclusions
LR after neoadjuvant CT-RT for RPS were predominantly infield. While almost one half of relapsed patients underwent further surgery, prognosis was poor.
The National Palliative Care and Interventional Radiotherapy Study Groups of the Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) carried out a survey whose aim was to obtain a ..."snapshot" of the real-world practice of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) treatments in Italy.
The survey was conducted on SurveyMonkey's online interface and was sent via e-mail to our society Radiation Oncologists.
Fifty-eight Italian radiation oncologists (ROs), representing 54 centers, answered the survey. Thirteen percent of the ROs declared they treat fewer than 10 NMSC lesions annually, 36% treat between 11 and 20, and 51% treat more than 20 lesions annually. Interventional radiotherapy (IRT) was offered by 25% of the ROs, and every case was reportedly discussed by a multidisciplinary team (71%). Electrons (74%), volumetric modulated arc therapy (V-MAT) (57%), three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) (43%), and IRT (26%) were the main treatment options. With external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), 46 and 53 different RT schedules were treated for curative and palliative intent, respectively; whereas for IRT, there were 21 and 7 for curative and palliative intent, respectively. The most popular EBRT curative options were 50–70.95/22–35 fractions (fx) and 50–70 Gy/16-20fx and for EBRT palliative settings, 30Gy/10fx, and 20–35Gy/5fx. For IRT, the most popular curative options were 32–50Gy/8-10fx and 30–54Gy/3-5fx, whereas 30Gy/6fz was the palliative option. Less than 10 re-RT cases were reported in one year in 42.5%, 11–20 cases in 42.5%, and >20 cases annually in 15%. Electrons (61%), VMAT (49%), and BRT (25%) were the most widely used approaches: 20–40Gy in 10fx and 20–25Gy in 5fx were the recommended fractionations.
The survey shows a variegated reality. A national registry with more detailed data could help in undercover its causes.
•The Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) proposed a survey to verify the national radiotherapy practices for nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC).•The preferred treatment techniques were: electrons (74%) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (V-MAT) (57%).•Interventional radiotherapy (IRT) can only be offered as a therapeutic option in only 25% of Italian RT centers.•Differing RT schedules but mainly adhering to international recommendations.•Data show that the single center experience was likely to play a prevalent role.
Abstract Aims The aim of this observational study was the evaluation of toxicity, local control and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) oligometastatic patients who had undergone ...stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) for lung metastatic lesions. Materials and methods SABR was carried out in oligometastatic patients with controlled primary tumour (adequate pulmonary function). We adopted the following dose prescriptions according to the site and the maximum diameter of the lung lesions: 60 Gy in three fractions for peripheral lesions with diameter ≤2 cm, 48 Gy in four fractions for peripheral lesions between 2 and 5 cm and 60 Gy in eight fractions for central lesions. A radiological response was defined according to RECIST criteria. Toxicity was recorded according to the Common Toxicity Criteria version 4.0. Results Between October 2010 and December 2014, 60 NSCLC patients with 90 lung lesions in total were treated at our institution. A radiological response was obtained in most patients. No pulmonary toxicity grade 4, chest pain or rib fracture occurred. The median follow-up from diagnosis was 28 months (range 5.4–104.5 months). The local control at 2 years was 88.9%. Overall survival at 1 and 2 years was 94.5 and 74.6%, respectively. Conclusion SABR is well tolerated with a good radiological response and toxicity profile. Discussion within a multidisciplinary team is crucial to identify the oligometastatic patients who would probably benefit from ablative local therapy.
PDF
