Boron neutron capture therapy is a cancer treatment in which boron-10 is delivered selectively to tumor cells, where it absorbs neutrons and forms an unstable form of boron-11 that decays by releasing a high energy alpha particle, destroying the cell that absorbed it while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. It has been proposed mainly for head and neck cancers and for brain tumors such as glioblastoma and melanoma, aiming to be more selective than conventional chemotherapy and radiation. As of the early 2020s the therapy remained limited in availability, offered only in Japan and even there in only a small number of cases.
Facts
FAQs
Has boron neutron capture therapy been approved anywhere as a treatment?
Yes. Japan approved the drug and devices in March 2020 for unresectable head and neck cancer.
Yes, in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved a boron drug (borofalan), a neutron treatment system and a dose calculation program in March 2020, with the drug approved on March 25 and the devices on March 11. The approval covers patients with unresectable head and neck carcinoma that is locally advanced or has come back locally. This page records the history of the therapy and is not medical advice.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Boron neutron capture therapeutics (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_neutron_capture_therapeutics, lead section
Boron neutron capture therapeutics are pharmaceuticals intended for use to deliver boron-10 to cancerous cells as part of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT).
Article text - era-origin-year
Neutron capture therapy (NCT) was first proposed in the literature in 1936 by Gordon L.
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