Principles, Recent Developments and Perspectives in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)

Abstract

For decades, BNCT was seen as an attractive concept and an intellectual challenge with no prospect of widespread clinical application. This situation has changed fundamentally in just a few years with the progress in accelerator technology. Low-energy, high--intensity neutron sources can now be integrated into hospitals and are therefore directly available for patient treatment. A pioneer in this field is the development in Japan, where patients are already being treated in three hospitals, using in-house accelerator-based systems. Furthermore, the costs associated with the BNCT treatment of recurrent tumors in the head and neck area are already covered by the healthcare system. It is time to keep up to date with this technology and work to make it available to patients in high--tech medicine in other countries, especially in Europe and North America. This short article summarizes the main principles of BNCT, outlines some aspects of its history and mentions ongoing projects as well as some hurdles that need to be overcome, as well as the scientific questions that need to be addressed for wider availability of the method.