"Preface: This book aims at providing a comprehensive and practical guide to proton and carbon ion therapy for a broad range of personnel in medical physics and radiation therapy, including medical physicists, radiation oncologists, dosimetrists, therapists, medical engineers, and trainees in these disciplines. The scope of this book includes physics and radiobiology basics of proton and ion beams, dosimetry methods and radiation measurements, treatment delivery systems, and practical guidance on patient setup, target localization, and treatment planning for clinical proton and carbon ion therapy, as well as detailed reports on the treatment of pediatric cancers, lymphomas, and various other cancers. The aim is to offer a balanced and critical assessment of the state-of-the-art proton and carbon ion therapy along with the discussion of major challenges and future outlook. This book contains 11 chapters. The first chapter provides an overview, and the final chapter describes future challenges. The remaining content is divided into three sections. The first section provides the basic aspects of proton and carbon ion therapy equipment covering accelerators, gantries, and delivery systems. Chapter 2 describes accelerators for proton and carbon ion therapy, including cyclotron, synchrotron, and other acceleration developments (such as dielectric wall accelerator, laser accelerated particle beams, and new concepts, including the cyclinac and compact cyclotron solutions). Chapter 3 describes proton and carbon ion therapy systems, with a focus on their major components, including energy selection systems, beam transport systems, control systems, gantries, and beam delivery systems"--Provided by publisher.