A roadmap for radiobiology and cancer research at the Extreme Light Infrastructure

Roadmap suggests how promising advances could be made through tightly focused and coordinated experiments at the Extreme Light Infrastructure’s facilities, combined with ongoing improvements to its instruments and infrastructure

New York | Heidelberg, 10 September 2025

The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) is an international research organisation hosting the world’s largest collection of high-power lasers. With state-of-the-art facilities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania, it specialises in producing radiation by accelerating tightly packed bunches of subatomic particles close to the speed of light, using ultrahigh-intensity laser pulses. Among ELI’s central goals is to provide leading researchers with open access to ultra-short pulses of radiation, which are playing an increasingly important role in radiobiology and cancer therapy.

In a new paper in EPJ Plus, a collaboration led by Daniele Margarone at the ELI Beamlines Facility present a detailed roadmap for future research at ELI. Their efforts could be crucial in validating the potential of its cutting-edge radiation sources and could pave the way for transformational advances in radiobiology and cancer therapy.

Traditionally, particle accelerators have been used to deliver the precise radiation doses required for clinical therapies. More recently, advances in laser-driven particle acceleration have expanded these possibilities, enabling the delivery of high radiation doses in ultra-short pulses at high repetition rates. Crucially, this approach can reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissues while maintaining the pinpoint precision needed for targeted cancer treatments — all while using compact, more affordable apparatus.

The versatility of the ELI’s sources allows protons, neutrons, electrons, and ions to accelerate to the required energies over distances of less than a millimetre, at high repetition rates and across a wide range of energies. However, the technology still has significant room for improvement.

The paper emphasises that further advances will require a coordinated international effort, with strong focus on developing scientific instruments and refining experimental methods. The roadmap proposes how these goals could be achieved through systematically designed experiments in radiobiology and cancer therapy — supported by preparatory research at users’ home laboratories, alongside continued improvements to ELI’s instruments and infrastructure.

References: Hideghéty, K., Cirrone, G.A.P., Parodi, K. et al. From ultrafast laser-generated radiation to clinical impact: a roadmap for radiobiology and cancer research at the extreme light infrastructure (ELI). Eur. Phys. J. Plus 140, 730 (2025). https://doi-org.ezproxy.uniagraria.edu.co/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06662-w