CLARA at Daresbury Laboratory has now achieved 250 MeV beam energy, unlocking a new phase of Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) research that could help shape the future of cancer treatment. These powerful electron beams can reach deepseated tumours while keeping radiation tightly focused, making them an exciting area of investigation for safer, more precise radiotherapy.
A team from the University of Manchester and STFC ASTeC — Dr. Kristina Small, Dr. Fabio D’Andrea, Dr. Nick Henshaw, Prof. Deepa AngalKalinin and Prof. Roger Jones — is leading key experiments to understand how these highenergy beams behave and how they might be controlled for medical use. Their work is helping to build the scientific foundation needed to assess whether VHEE therapy could one day move into clinical practice.
The energy upgrade at CLARA is a major milestone for UK accelerator science. While the early VHEE results are promising, researchers emphasise that significant further development is still required before VHEE could become a practical cancer treatment.
