Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)

When Drugs and Neutrons Combine

An old treatment friend, with new technology

A next-generation cancer treatment Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) has the potential to deliver highly effective and very cell-selective radiation therapy with a truly low impact on the patient’s quality of life, possibly less than all other radiation, chemotherapy or biological therapy modalities in current use.

Oncologists must deliver conventional radiation therapy in as many as thirty to forty treatment appointments to prevent significant side effects to the patient. By contrast, BNCT requires only one or perhaps two 20-minute to 30-minute hospital patient treatments. The latter could be ground-breaking in the active lives of many cancer patients.

A single BNCT installation has the potential to treat as many patients for cancer as up to eight current linear accelerators. This would suggest significant savings on shielded room utilisation, number of staff, and device maintenance for Radiation Oncology departments.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a biologically guided radiotherapy modality & is a powerful alternative to traditional radiotherapy and proton therapy, with the ability to deliver targeted radiation to cancer cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. In BNCT treatment, a boron carrier compound injected into the blood stream is selectively absorbed by tumor cells. The tumor is irradiated with a therapeutic neutron beam. The neutron beam reacts with the boron, while safely passing through surrounding tissue. The boron reaction produces highly excited alpha particles of very short path lengths (5–9 µm) that destroy tumor cells from the inside with minimal effect on immediately surrounding tissue. BNCT has successfully been used to treat cancer patients in cases where other treatment options have been exhausted. Typical BNCT therapies utilize two patient treatments vs. dozens for traditional radiotherapy, reducing stress on patients while enhancing treatment center efficiency and patient throughput.



Potential Benefits of BNCT

BNCT has the potential to greatly improve therapeutic outcomes by treating the primary tumor site as well as undetected metastases in local region of the tumor. Even tumors that are not candidates for surgery because of their location near sensitive biological structures can potentially be treated with BNCT. BNCT can make the process of radiation treatment much less onerous for the patient. This is because the biologically targeted radiation is delivered primarily to the cancer cells, rather than the healthy tissue. The potential therefore exists to reduce side effects and improve patient quality of life compared to conventional radiotherapy. Studies show that BNCT treatments can be carried out in one or two fractions,** as opposed to the 30 fractions that are typical of conventional x-ray and proton therapies. This can potentially make treatments easier and less costly for patients and healthcare providers alike.

A Compact Neutron Source Designed for the Hospital Environment

Neutron Therapeutics has developed an accelerator-based, in-hospital neutron source to replace the previously required nuclear reactor. This source is composed of a 2.6 MeV electrostatic proton accelerator and a rotating, solid lithium target for generating neutrons. Neutron Therapeutics will provide this neutron source as part of a comprehensive therapeutic treatment suite, that will combine all of the necessary components for BNCT treatment into a user-friendly package.


Product Features:

  • 2.6 MeV Electrostatic Proton Accelerator

  • Reliable operation at 30 mA for high patient throughput

  • Cost-effective in-hospital design

  • Rotating Solid Lithium Target

  • Excellent neutron beam quality

  • Solid target is safe and reliable

  • Excellent lifetime and automated service minimize cost of ownership


Typical Layout of the BNCT facility.

(The nuBeam® suite is an investigational product and has not been approved by the FDA or PMDA.)

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