Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a promising technique for treating malignant tumors by accumulating the stable isotope boron-10 in them and subsequent irradiation with epithermal neutrons. The absorption of the neutron by boron causes a nuclear reaction with a large release of energy in the cell containing the boron nucleus that kills it. Clinical trials conducted on nuclear reactors have shown that BNCT can treat glioblastomas in the brain, metastatic melanoma and a number of other tumors. For the technique to be widely introduced into clinical practice, compact sources of epithermal neutrons based on a charged particle accelerator are required.
One source for this can be an installation based on new types of charged particle accelerators - the vacuum isolation tandem accelerator and the lithium neutron-producing target. For the first time in history, the Laboratory’s equipment achieved the beam parameters necessary for BNCT. The results of experiments on cell cultures and mice with grafted human glioblastoma confirmed the high quality of the neutron beam.
The laboratory staff continues to improve the equipment and, together with physicists, chemists, physicians, biologists at other organizations, conduct BNCT research on it.
Publications of BNCT research results
BNCT Team
Laboratory Partners:
University of Tsukuba (Japan)
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Japan)
Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute (Japan)
University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (Algeria)
Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics SB RAS
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology SB RAS
Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS
Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SB RAS
Novosibirsk Branch of Nuclear Safety Institute RAS
Russian Federal Nuclear Center E. I. Zababakhin All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics
Irkutsk State Medical University
Research Institute of Complex Problems of Cardiovascular Disease
Institute of Organoelement Compounds of RAS
Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials RAS
Institute of Steel and Alloys
