Current Status of Clinical Neutron Capture Therapy

Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a method of beam radiotherapy like conventional radiotherapy and proton therapy. The main advantage of NCT over other methods is its high self targeting tumor selectivity based on physical phenomenon of neutron capture. NCT has been used for curing cancer in patients in nine countries. Currently four countries continue treating patients with NCT. Most of the patients treated with NCT were treated in nuclear reactors. At present new accelerator-based neutron sources for NCT are being developed. Shift from nuclear reactor based neutron source to accelerator base neutron source can be observed all around the world. First clinical trials of NCT with accelerator based neutron sources are being held in Japan. Brain tumors and head and neck cancer are the major subject for NCT by now. Clinical outcomes of NCT are reviewed. Annual number of patient as well as number of tumor types are treated with NCT are increasing in Japan. Future prospects of NCT in curing malignancies are analyzed.

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