Cancer epidemiology and patient recruitment for hadron therapy.

Patient recruitment is an important issue in the feasibility study of a hadron therapy programme such as Med-AUSTRON. Data on cancer incidence in Europe, Austria, and neighbouring countries are reviewed for the most frequent tumors suitable for charged particle therapy. From these data, the numbers of potential patients suitable for MED-AUSTRON are derived for each tumor site by applying the coefficients proposed in the EULIMA-1992 feasibility study. Whatever the assumptions made, a sufficient and adequate recruitment for MED-AUSTRON can be expected. However, an appropriate referring system has to be established within Austria and also in the neighbouring countries.