New horizons for therapy based on the boron neutron capture reaction.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is currently undergoing clinical trials in the USA, Japan and The Netherlands with patients afflicted with deadly brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme) or melanoma. This therapy relies on a binary process in which the capture of a slow neutron by a 10B nucleus leads to an energetic nuclear fission reaction, with the formation of 7Li3+ and 4He2+ and accompanied by about 2.4 MeV of energy. The fleeting 7Li3+ and 4He2+ travel a distance of only about the diameter of one cell, and they are deadly to any cell in which they have been produced. Research in progress is concerned with the development of advanced boron agents and neutron sources, other than nuclear reactors, for the treatment of a variety of cancer types using novel 10B delivery methods. Non-malignant diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis offer additional opportunities for BNCT. The entire BNCT area awaits commercialization.