Comet assay study of DNA damage and repair of tumour cells following boron neutron capture irradiation with fast d(14) + Be neutrons.

We compared the amount of radiation-induced DNA damage and the extent of DNA repair in human melanoma cells (MeWo) using the 'comet assay' after neutron, boron neutron capture and X-irradiation. Using a colony-forming assay it was shown earlier that lethal effects in tumour cells treated with fast neutrons may be increased by the neutron capture reaction 10B(n, alpha)7Li. The effectiveness of boron neutron capture in killing tumour cells depends on the number of 10B atoms delivered to the tumour, the subcellular distribution of 10B and the thermal neutron fluence at the side of the tumour. Using the 'comet assay' the DNA damage of fast neutrons (mean energy 5.8 MeV) was shown to be significantly greater than for the same absorbed dose of X-rays. The presence of 600 ppm 10B (boric acid H5 10BO3) in the cell medium during irradiation with d(14) + Be neutrons in a phantom enhances the DNA damage by 20% compared with neutron irradiation alone. After DNA damage induction by neutrons and neutron capture of boron, the DNA repair capacity of the MeWo cells is significantly reduced in comparison with X-irradiation resulting in proportionally more residual DNA damage after 180 min of repair time.