New Insights in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy for Cancers

Dear Colleagues,

In order for boron neutron capture therapy to become a part of the standard treatment for malignant tumors in clinical practice, it is necessary to develop new neutron sources, as well as new boron compounds, for clinical application. Treatment of recurrent head and neck cancers using accelerator neutron sources is now covered by insurance in Japan. As for the development of new boron drugs, several research papers have been published, but few compounds have been applied clinically. The current situation is probably due to the fact that the scope of clinical treatment for BNCT is extremely limited, there are not many researchers in this field, large amounts—sometimes tens of grams—need to be administered in a few hours, and a high level of safety is required for the compounds compared to ordinary drugs. In addition, the design must be able to reach the required intracellular boron concentration of 20 to 40 micrograms per gram for the treatment. The boron concentration is generally measured by ICP analysis, but there is no standard method to measure boron concentration more easily or to visualize its distribution in cells, and these methods need to be developed. This Special Issue focuses on the intracellular and intratissue distribution of boron, imaging techniques, and the in vivo dynamics of boron.

Prof. Kei Nakai
Guest Editor

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