Pignol J P, Chauvel P
Service de radiothérapie, centre Antoine-Lacassagne, Nice, France.
Bull Cancer Radiother. 1995;82(3):283-97.
Neutron capture irradiation aims to selectively destroy the tumoral cells with nuclear reactions produced inside themselves. Therefore, 10B is selectively carried into tumours, being linked to a molecular vehicle. The tissues are then irradiated with thermal neutrons, and the boron neutron capture leads to the formation of alpha and 7Li particles which produce high levels of radiolytic damage along their range of 10 microns. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) uses a thermal/epithermal neutron beam for irradiation, while boron neutron capture potentiation uses the addition of the captures in a fast neutron irradiation. A first trial, conducted in 1951 to 1961 in the USA to test BNCT on patients suffering of glioblastoma, was a failure, essentially because 10B was located in the cerebral capillaries rather than in the tumoral cells. Today, with great improvement in the boronated compounds which show an uptake preferentially inside the cells; the quality of neutron beams; and the knowledge of the microdosimetry of the technique, this technique may be clinically used to increase the local control of radioresistant tumours, like the high grade gliomas, cutaneous or uveal melanoma, and perhaps soft tissue sarcomas.
中子俘获辐照旨在通过肿瘤细胞内部产生的核反应选择性地破坏肿瘤细胞。因此，硼-10被选择性地输送到肿瘤中，并与一种分子载体相连。然后用热中子对组织进行辐照，硼中子俘获会导致形成α粒子和锂-7粒子，这些粒子在其10微米的射程内会产生高水平的辐射损伤。硼中子俘获疗法（BNCT）使用热/超热中子束进行辐照，而硼中子俘获增强则是在快中子辐照中增加俘获。1951年至1961年在美国进行的首次试验，旨在对胶质母细胞瘤患者进行硼中子俘获疗法测试，但试验失败了，主要原因是硼-10位于脑毛细血管而非肿瘤细胞中。如今，随着含硼化合物在细胞内优先摄取能力的极大提高、中子束质量的提升以及对该技术微观剂量测定的了解，这项技术可在临床上用于增强对放射性抗性肿瘤的局部控制，如高级别胶质瘤、皮肤或葡萄膜黑色素瘤，或许还有软组织肉瘤。
