On the eptihermal neutron energy limit for Accelerator-Based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (AB-BNCT): Study and impact of new energy limits

Hervé, Marine; Sauzet, N.; Santos, D.

doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2021.06.016

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The basic idea in the nIORT® is to irradiate tumour beds "directly" with the monoenergetic 2.45 MeV neutrons emitted by the DD source, e.g., without moderating to epithermal or thermal energies as in the BNCT. 5,6,7 This high energy neutrons are very effective in cancer cells killing because of their high LET and RBE: @16 for 2.45 MeV neutrons. 9,30 This RBE value is significantly higher than of the proton in the Spread Out Bragg Peak (SOBP, estimated to be 1.1 to 1.2) and of the currently used 50 kV Xrays medical devices for IORT, which are 1.26 to 1.42 as measured in a phantom model.…”

Section: Background Research Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, the almost spherically symmetric IR on the tumour bed has the advantages to be less sensitive to the margins of the surgery cavity and to the possible intra-tumour heterogeneity of the solid tumour cells since the neutron irradiator behaves like an IR "foam" within the cavity. Differently from the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) exploiting thermal and epithermal neutrons to induce (n, a) reactions in boron carriers injected into patients 5,6,7 , the fast neutrons interact directly and efficiently with the hydrogen nuclei, producing recoil protons that ionize the tissues. Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the nIORT® delivers on the tumour bed a fast-neutron IR with a high linear energy transfer (LET) 8 and a relative biological effectiveness (RBE) 9 significantly higher than all other IRs such as X-rays, electrons and protons, thus resulting very efficient in producing DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) of the cancer cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Compact Neutron Generator for the Niort® Treatment of Severe Solid Cancers

Martellini

2023

MRAJ

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In the last four years, TheranostiCentre S.r.l., Berkion Technology LLC and ENEA have patented and fabricated a first prototype of a Compact Neutron Generator (CNG) currently under testing in the ENEA laboratories. Besides the usual applications in the field of materials irradiation, this CNG - producing neutrons of 2.45 MeV energy by using the DD fusion reaction - was conceived for the neutron irradiation of the solid cancer’s tumour bed by means of the Intra-Operative Radiotherapy (IORT) technique, the so-called neutron-IORT (nIORT®). The CNG is self-shielded and light-weight (~120 kg) making possible its remote handling by a robotic arm. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations, modelling the CNG and the “open wound” biological tissues near its irradiation window, demonstrated that the apparatus - operated at 100 kV-10 mA - supplies a neutron flux ~108 cm-2 s-1 and can deliver equivalent dose rates ~2 Gy (RBE)/min. Hence, it can administer very high dose levels in limited treatment times. This article briefly summarizes the main findings of this collaborative research study, the clinical rationales underpinning the nIORT® idea and the potential performances of the CNG for the treatment of solid cancer pathologies. Indeed, the CNG can be installed in an operating room dedicated to nIORT® treatments, without posing any environmental and safety issues. Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out by envisioning the CNG equipped with an IORT applicator, that is an applicator pipe with a tuneable diameter to be inserted in the surgical cavity. By foreseeing the clinical endpoints of the standard IORT protocols, the irradiation performances for potential nIORT® treatments - obtained with an applicator pipe of 6 cm diameter - are here reported for different regimes: from 10 up to 75 Gy (RBE), that can be administered in a single session of about 4 to 30 minutes. Besides the dose peak in the centre of the tumour bed, the almost isotropic neutrons emission allows to irradiate the surroundings side-walls of the tumour bed – usually filled by potential quiescent cancer cells (QCCs) – and therefore reducing the chances of local recurrences by improving the local control of the tumour. The rapid decrease in tissues depth of the dose profile (in few centimetres) will spare the neighbouring organs at risk from harmful radiations. Thus, the CNG apparatus developed for nIORT® applications can potentially improve the resectability rate of a given neoadjuvant cancer treatment and, generally, could satisfy all five R’s criteria of radiotherapy. Furthermore, in comparing with the current IORT techniques with electrons or low-keV X-rays, the nIORT® exploiting a high-flux neutrons beam of 2.45 MeV energy could lead to some significant clinical advantages due to its larger Linear Energy Transfer (LET, ~ 40 keV/m as average) and significantly higher Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE 16) than all other forms of ionizing radiation.

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Section: Background Research Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Compact Neutron Generator for the Niort® Treatment of Severe Solid Cancers

Martellini

2023

MRAJ

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“…The in-air neutron beam parameters are almost all in full compliance with the IAEA recommendations. In-phantom dose simulation has been performed to evaluate the clinical adequacy for BNCT treatments targeting a brain tumor with the DM A-BNCT parameters in the MCNP6 code and the Snyder head phantom model [43]. This model is a spherical shape consisting of the skin, skull, and brain volume and with tumors uniformly distributed in the brain.…”

Section: In-phantom Figures-of-meritmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances of LINAC-based boron neutron capture therapy in Korea

Bae¹,

Kim²,

Seo³

et al. 2022

AAPPS Bull.

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Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has been attracting interest as a new radiation modality for cancer therapy because it can selectively destroy cancer cells while maintaining the healthy state of surrounding normal cells. Many experimental trials have demonstrated significant BNCT treatment efficacy using neutron beams from research reactors. However, nuclear reactor technology cannot be scaled to sites in hospitals delivering patient treatment. Therefore, compact accelerator-based neutron sources that could be installed in many hospitals are under development or have even been commissioned at many facilities around the world. In Korea, a radio-frequency (RF) linac-based BNCT (A-BNCT) facility is under development by DawonMedax (DM). It provides the highly efficient production of an epithermal neutron beam with an optimized neutron energy spectrum range of 0.1~10 keV. With a 2-mA 10-MeV proton beam from the accelerator, the irradiation port epithermal neutron flux is higher than 1 × 109 n/cm2⋅s. Comprehensive verification and validation of the system have been conducted with the measurement of both proton and neutron beam characteristics. Significant therapeutic effects from BNCT have been confirmed by DM in both in vitro and in vivo non-clinical trials. Further, during exposure to epithermal neutrons, all other unintended radiation is controlled to levels meeting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommendations. Recently, the Korean FDA has accepted an investigational new drug (IND) and the first-in-human clinical trial of BNCT is now being prepared. This paper introduces the principles of BNCT and accelerator-based neutron sources for BNCT and reports the recent advances of DM A-BNCT facility which is the main part of this paper.

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“…The amount of energy released as ionization by a particle passing through a medium plays an important role in multiple fields from radiotherapy and microdosimetry [1,2,3] to cosmology and particle detection [4,5]. While there is mounting evidence for Dark Matter (DM) from its gravitational effects (see [6] for a recent review), its nature remains unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements of the ionization efficiency of protons in methane

Balogh¹,

Beaufort

Brossard³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The amount of energy released by a nuclear recoil ionizing the atoms of the active volume of detection appears "quenched" compared to an electron of the same kinetic energy. This different behavior in ionization between electrons and nuclei is described by the Ionization Quenching Factor (IQF) and it plays a crucial role in direct dark matter searches. For low kinetic energies (below 50 keV), IQF measurements deviate significantly from theoretical predictions and simulations. We report measurements of the IQF for protons with kinetic energies in between 2 keV and 13 keV in 100 mbar of methane. We used the Comimac facility in order to produce the motion of nuclei and electrons of controlled kinetic energy in the active volume, and a NEWS-G SPC to measure the deposited energy. The Comimac electrons are used as reference to calibrate the detector with 7 energy points. A detailed study of systematic effects led to the final results well fitted by IQF (E K ) = E α K / (β + E α K ) with α = 0.69 ± 0.08 and β = 1.31 ± 0.17. In agreement with some previous works in other gas mixtures, we measured less ionizaa

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On the eptihermal neutron energy limit for Accelerator-Based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (AB-BNCT): Study and impact of new energy limits

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

A Compact Neutron Generator for the Niort® Treatment of Severe Solid Cancers

A Compact Neutron Generator for the Niort® Treatment of Severe Solid Cancers

Advances of LINAC-based boron neutron capture therapy in Korea

Measurements of the ionization efficiency of protons in methane

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