Evaluation of performance of an accelerator-based BNCT facility for the treatment of different tumor targets

Conceptual design project: Accelerator complex for nuclear physics studies and boron neutron capture therapy application at the Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) Yerevan, Armenia

“…Based on idea using proton beam of middle energy cyclotron for the spread of BNCT [4][5][6][7][8], we propose on the 30 MeV proton beam option of Cyclotron C70 to create fast neutron beam with a flux sufficient for BNCT.…”

“…The spread of the use of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), on a permanent basis in the USA [4], Italy [5], Japan [6] and Argentina [7], is based on the safety and efficacy of this method of treatment of human cancers. A major advantage of accelerator-based neutron sources is that they can be sited within a hospital complex [8].…”

Calculation of BNCT Dosimetry for Brain Cancer Based on Kartini Research Reactor Using Phits Code

“…Note that the gamma dose is the sum of the secondary gamma dose which is generated of the 1 H (n, γ) 2 H reaction and the primary gamma dose which is generated from primary gamma-ray sources. In term of BNCT, the weighted dose or commonly known as the total biologically weighted dose, is defined as [35]: Table 3 [36,37,18]. RBE is comparison of absorbed doses of radiation reference sources with test radiation that produce the same biological effect, whereas CBE is a factor of the biological effect used on boron carrier compound [38,39].…”

“…In 2012, Rasouli and Masoudi used Beam Shaping Assembly (BSA) optimization design results to show that the weighted dose rate of the tumor target for a depth of 5.2 cm is 0.0372 Gy(w)/s [17]. In 2013, Herrera et al, showed that the minimum weighted dose rate delivered to the clinical target volume (CTV) was higher than 0.025 Gy(w)/s for the brain tumor (GBM) [18]. In 2014, Capoulat et al, investigated the reaction produced by 9Be(d, n)10B as a neutron source for BNCT.…”

Present status of Accelerator-Based BNCT

“…Such a facility, in combination with an optimized beam shaping assembly has been shown to be able to deliver treatments of comparable quality of the best present-day reactors. [27][28][29] As an intermediate step, a smaller machine, a folded TESQ with a terminal at 700 kV is also being developed to be used with the Be(d,n) reaction. 8 …”