Light flashes in cancer patients treated with heavy ions

Abstract

Light flashes (phosphenes) are reported by most of the astronauts during spaceflight and patients treated with radiotherapy for brain tumors. They are induced by cosmic ray traversals, but the target area is unknown. With a correlation analysis of the visual sensation and the position of the beam in patients treated with energetic carbon ions for skull base tumors, we demonstrate here that light flashes are elicited only when the energetic particles hit the retina.