Otto K. Harling

Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT · Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a biochemically targeted radiotherapy based on the nuclear capture and fission reactions that occur when non-radioactive boron-10, which is a constituent of natural elemental boron, is irradiated with low energy thermal neutrons to yield high linear energy transfer alpha particles and recoiling lithium-7 nucl...

In this chapter, a brief overview is provided of fission reactor-based epithermal neutron irradiation facilities designed for neutron capture therapy. The overview is intended to give those who are interested in establishing this type of facility some perspective and guidance concerning the desirable performance characteristics and features. Requir...

An optimization study of IRT-Sofia BNCT beam tube is presented. In the study we used the MIT/FCB experience. The enlarging of filter/moderator cross section dimensions and the decreasing of collimator length within the limits of the IRT-Sofia reactor design were analyzed. The influence of beam and reactor core axes non-coincidence on the beam prope...

Based on experience gained in the recent clinical studies at MIT/Harvard, the desirable characteristics of epithermal neutron irradiation facilities for eventual routine clinical BNCT are suggested. A discussion of two approaches to using fission reactors for epithermal neutron BNCT is provided. This is followed by specific suggestions for the perf...

The meaningful sharing and combining of clinical results from different centers in the world performing boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) requires improved precision in dose specification between programs. To this end absorbed dose normalizations were performed for the European clinical centers at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commis...

The motivation for this work was an unexpected occurrence of lung side effects in two human subjects undergoing cranial boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The objectives were to determine experimentally the biological weighting factors in rat lung for the high-LET dose components for a retrospective assessment of the dose to human lung during cr...

A dosimetry intercomparison between the boron neutron capture therapy groups of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), Argentina was performed to enable combined analyses of NCT patient data between the different centers. In-air and dose versus depth measurements in a rectangular water p...

The aim of this study was to construct a (6)Li filter and to improve penetration of thermal neutrons produced by the fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam (FCB) for brain irradiation during boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Design of the (6)Li filter was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations of the existing beam line and radiation t...

Normalisation of prescribed dose in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is needed to facilitate combining clinical data from different centres in the world to help expedite development of the modality. The approach being pursued within the BNCT community is based upon improving precision in the measurement and specification of absorbed dose. Beam...

An international collaboration was organized to undertake a dosimetry exchange to enable the future combination of clinical data from different centers conducting neutron capture therapy trials. As a first step (Part I) the dosimetry group from the Americas, represented by MIT, visited the clinical centers at Studsvik (Sweden), VTT Espoo (Finland),...

A comparison of seven epithermal neutron beams used in clinical studies of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) in Sweden (Studsvik), Finland (Espoo), Czech Republic (ReZ), The Netherlands (Petten) and the U.S. (Brookhaven and Cambridge) was performed to facilitate sharing of preclinical and clinical results. The physical performance of each beam w...

Neutron capture therapy (NCT) research encompasses a wide range of preclinical and clinical studies needed to develop this promising but complex cancer treatment. Many specialized facilities and capabilities including thermal and epithermal neutron irradiation facilities, boron analysis, specialized mixed-field dosimetry, animal care facilities and...

The M-011 thermal neutron beam has been reconstituted and upgraded to provide a high intensity and high quality facility for preclinical and certain clinical studies. Intensities of thermal neutrons in the beam range from 5.0-8.5 x 109 n cm-2 s-1. Beam contamination is at a low level where it has no practical influence on beam performance. New comp...

The international collaboration that was organized to undertake a dosimetry exchange for purposes of combining clinical data from different facilities conducting neutron capture therapy has continued since its founding at the 9th ISNCT symposium in October 2000. The thrust towards accumulating physical dosimetry data for comparison between differen...

An immunologic tool based on manipulation of the boron neutron capture reaction was previously proposed in the context of heart transplantation research to examine the temporal relationship between parenchymal rejection (representing immune cell infiltration) and transplantation-associated arteriosclerosis (characterized by progressive vascular occ...

A Phase I/II clinical trial of neutron capture therapy (NCT) was conducted at Harvard-MIT using a fission converter epithermal neutron beam. This epithermal neutron beam has nearly ideal performance characteristics (high intensity and purity) and is well-suited for clinical use. Six glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients were treated with NCT by in...

Data from the Harvard-MIT and the BNL Phase I and Phase I/II clinical trials, conducted between 1994 and 1999, have been analyzed and combined, providing the most complete data set yet available on the tolerance of the normal human brain to BPA-mediated boron neutron capture therapy. Both peak (1cm(3)) dose and average whole-brain dose show a steep...

The whole lung of rats was irradiated with X-rays, thermal neutrons, or thermal neutrons in the presence of p-boronophenylalanine (BPA). A >/= 20% increase in breathing rate, in the period 40-80 days after irradiation, was indicative of radiation-induced pneumonitis. The ED(50) (+/-SE) for a >/= 20% increase in breathing rate, relative to age-match...

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the first fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam (FCB) has proven suitable for use in clinical trials of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The modern facility provides a high intensity beam together with low levels of contamination that is ideally suited for use with future, more selec...

A patient collimator for the fission converter based epithermal neutron beam (FCB) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR-II) was built for clinical trials of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). A design was optimized by Monte Carlo simulations of the entire beam line and incorporates a modular construction for easy m...

The tissue substitute A-181 plastic, which has an elemental composition matching both the constituent hydrogen and nitrogen of brain tissue, was assessed for dosimetry in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The sensitivity of an A-181 walled ionization chamber relative to photons for all neutrons in a clinical epithermal beam was calculated to va...

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is based on the preferential targeting of tumor cells with (10)B and subsequent activation with thermal neutrons to produce a highly localized radiation. In theory, it is possible to selectively irradiate a tumor and the associated infiltrating tumor cells with large single doses of high-LET radiation while spar...

Microdosimetric measurements have been performed at the clinical beam intensities in two epithermal neutron beams, the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor and the M67 beam at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor, which have been used to treat patients with Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). These measurements offer an indep...

A pre-clinical characterization of the first fission converter based epithermal neutron beam (FCB) designed for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has been performed. Calculated design parameters describing the physical performance of the aluminium and Teflon filtered beam were confirmed from neutron fluence and absorbed dose rate measurements pe...

The status of fission reactor-based neutron beams for neutron capture therapy (NCT) is reviewed critically. Epithermal neutron beams, which are favored for treatment of deep-seated tumors, have been constructed or are under construction at a number of reactors worldwide. Some of the most recently constructed epithermal neutron beams approach the th...

The status of fission reactor- based neutron beams for neutron capture therapy ( NCT) is reviewed critically. Epithermal neutron beams, which are favored for treatment of deep- seated tumors, have been constructed or are under construction at a number of reactors worldwide. Some of the most recently constructed epithermal neutron beams approach the...

A phase I trial was designed to evaluate normal tissue tolerance to neutron capture therapy (NCT); tumor response was also followed as a secondary endpoint. Between July 1996 and May 1999, 24 subjects were entered into a phase I trial evaluating cranial NCT in subjects with primary or metastatic brain tumors. Two subjects were excluded due to a dec...

A Phase I trial of cranial neutron capture therapy (NCT) was conducted at Harvard-MIT. The trial was designed to determine maximum tolerated NCT radiation dose to normal brain. Twenty-two patients with brain tumors were treated by infusion of boronophenylalanine-fructose (BPA-f) followed by exposure to epithermal neutrons. The study began with a pr...

A new epithermal neutron irradiation facility, based on a fission converter assembly placed in the thermal column outside the reactor core, has been put into operation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR). This facility was constructed to provide a high-intensity, forward-directed beam for use in neutron capture ther...

Samples of polytetrafluoroethylene have been irradiated with a mixed field of fast neutrons and gamma rays using the MIT Research Reactor. Dose levels from ∼0.3 to ∼50×106 Gy for gamma and from ∼0.13 to 80×104 Gy for fast neutrons were used. Weight loss, fluorine loss, and swelling were measured quantitatively. Subjective mechanical property tests...

An intercomparison of physical dosimetry methods used at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brookhaven National Laboratory was completed to enable retrospective analysis of BNCT trials. Measurements were performed under reference conditions pertinent to clinical irradiations at the epithermal neutron beam facility of the Brookhaven...

A new type of epithermal neutron irradiation facility for use in neutron capture therapy has been designed, constructed, and put into operation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR). A fission converter, using plate-type fuel and driven by the MITR, is used as the source of neutrons. After partial moderation and filtr...

Neutron capture therapy, usually referred to as boron neutron capture therapy or BNCT, is a promising experimental approach to cancer therapy. BNCT involves the infusion of a non-toxic drug, usually a compound containing B-10, which concentrates preferentially in tumor cells and the subsequent neutron irradiation of the tumor region. Neutrons induc...

The clinical use of BNCT originated in Boston largely through the efforts of Dr. William Sweet at the Massachusetts General Hospital and his collaborators at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The early clinical trials were for patients with primary brain tumors but were unsuccessful largel...

We have investigated the suitability of fluorinated hydrocarbon polytetrafluoroeth-ylene (PTFE) for application in the filter/moderator of an epithermal beam. We show that the neutronics performance, cost, and fabricability of Al and PTFE compares favor- ably with other good filter/moderator materials such as Al/Al2O3, Al/C, and Fluental ®. In this...

Conventional dosimetry methods for BNCT measure the macroscopic absorbed dose, but give no information about its microscopic nature or radiation quality. A low pressure tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) is capable of providing this information by supplying the complete single event charged particle spectrum depositing the dose in a simu...

A prerequisite for any clinical trial is a good idea, which is worth testing. The research work on Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, a special radiation therapeutic modality which theoretically allows the selective irradiation of tumor cells with high linear energy transfer radiation has reached the first step of clinical testing. To test a new therap...

Sensitivity studies of the collimator and fast neutron filter/moderator designs of the MIT fission converter epithermal neutron beam have been conducted to examine the effects of beam collimation or directionality, beam size (i.e., neutron spatial distribution), and neutron spectrum on dosimetric performance in a water-filled ellipsoidal head phant...

Sensitivity studies of epithermal neutron beam performance in boron neutron capture therapy are presented for realistic neutron beams with varying filter/moderator and collimator/delimiter designs to examine the relative importance of neutron beam spectrum, directionality, and size. Figures of merit for in-air and in-phantom beam performance are ca...

This chapter is based on a shortened version of the investigators brochures from the EORTC clinical trials 11001 and 11011 concerning the boron compounds Sodium Borocaptate (BSH) and Boronophenylalanine (BPA). It summarizes essential information that might be asked by regulatory authorities. The intention of this chapter is to support and to facili...

To meet the needs for neutron capture therapy (NCT) irradiations, a high-intensity, high-quality fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam has been designed for the MITR-II research reactor. This epithermal neutron beam, capable of delivering treatments in a few minutes with negligible background contamination from fast neutrons and photons,...

The performance of the prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) facility at the MIT Research Reactor has been improved by a series of modifications. These modifications have increased the flux by a factor of three at the sample position to 1.7 × 107 n/cm2 s, and have increased the sensitivity, on average, by a factor of 2.5. The background...

One of the two overriding conditions for successful BNCT is that there must be a sufficient number of thermal neutrons delivered to each of the boronated cells in the tumour bed (target volume). Despite the poor experience with BNCT in the USA some 40 years ago, the continued apparent success of BNCT in Japan since 1968, lead indirectly to the re-s...

The 5 MW Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR-II) is expected to operate under a new license beginning in 1999. Among the options being considered is an upgrade in the heat removal system to allow operation at 10 MW. The purpose of this study is to predict the Limiting Safety System Settings and Safety Limits for the upgrade...

An experimental cleaning system has been developed to demonstrate the decontamination of model electronic circuit boards by this cleaning process. The media used in this process are a wash solution of a high molecular weight fluorocarbon surfactant in a perfluorinated carrier liquid which results in enhanced particle removal, followed by a perfluor...

Boron-10 quantification is a vital part of the phase I clinical trials that are in progress under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/New England Deaconess Hospital (NEDH) joint BNCT project. Accurate knowledge of the {sup 10}B content of blood as a function of time and immediately prior to irradiation is needed to calculate the total d...

Currently available epithermal neutron beams at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are not sufficiently intense to meet the anticipated demand for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) treatments if initial, currently in progress clinical trials of BNCT prove successful. Indeed, they are not really adequate for extensive (phase-III) cli...

Four subjects underwent a phase-I boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) protocol between September 1994 and September 1995. Three of the subjects were women; the range of ages was 61 to 80 yr; three subjects were of Caucasian origin, one (a male) was of Haitian origin. The subjects had subcutaneous metastatic melanoma nodules on their lower extremit...

The general-purpose Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP has been used to study the effects of coolant type and thickness, fuel loading, and fuel configuration on the performance of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam.

The design and safety of the heat removal system of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) design for a fission converter-based epithermal beam is discussed in this paper. Plate-type reactor fuel elements, used in the MIT research reactor (MITR-II), are also used for the fission converter. This fission converter-based beam provides epither...

A computer-based beam dosimetry measurement system for boron neutron capture therapy provides accurate, sensitive, and rapid readout and recording of all beam dose components, epithermal and thermal neutron flux, and gamma-ray dose rate. This dosimetric system includes input from the characterization of the epithermal neutron beam developed at the...

A Monte Carlo-based treatment planning code for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), called NCTPLAN, has been developed in support of the New England Medical Center-Massachusetts Institute of Technology program in BNCT. This code has been used to plan BNCT irradiations in an ongoing peripheral melanoma BNCT protocol. The concept and design of the...

Three subjects have completed the New England Medical Center—Massachusetts Institute of Technology phase-I boron neutron capture therapy dose-escalation melanoma protocol. The irradiations were done with a single 15 cm diameter field of epithermal neutrons from the MIT Research Reactor employing four daily fractions. There was no observed acute bor...

An epithermal neutron beam has been developed1,2 for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR-II). The neutron beam has been used to treat two patients as part of a Phase I clinical trial for subcutaneous melanoma of the extremities. The clinical dosimetry of epithermal neutron beams f...

A water-filled head phantom and a wax body part phantom that have been designed for experimental and Monte Carlo based dosimetry for boron neutron capture therapy are described. The head phantom is ellipsoidal, based on the Snyder head model. Body part phantoms are molded directly from the patient’s body. The composition of the head phantom is desi...

Corrosion products containing transition metal elements that deposit in core become radioactive and then are released and redeposited on components such as steam generators, pumps, and coolant piping are a significant source of radiation exposure to workers in commercial power reactors. A number of strategies have been developed to reduce the build...

Irradiated and unirradiated austenitic stainless steels (SS) were exposed to a transpassive potential (1,050 mV{sub SCE}) in a sulfuric acid (HâSOâ) solution, and the corrosion responses were studied. Applicability of the transpassive technique to evaluation of radiation-induced segregation (RIS) of impurities was considered. The charge density dur...

Neutron capture therapy sets new requirements on the measurement and monitoring of the radiation fields used in this new form of therapy. Beams used for neutron capture therapy are comprised of mixed radiation fields which include slow, epithermal, and fast neutrons, as well as gamma rays. A computer-based beam monitoring system for epithermal or t...

A water-filled head phantom that is designed for use in boron neutron capture therapy is described. The shape of this ellipsoidal phantom, based on the Synder head model, and its composition are designed to simulate the neutron slowing down properties of the human skull and brain. Small ion chambers or activation foils can be placed in many locatio...

A laboratory-scale ultrasonic decontamination system has been developed to demonstrate the application of Entropic System`s enhanced particle removal process to the radioactive decontamination of electronic circuit boards. The process uses inert perfluorinated liquids as the working media; the liquids have zero ozone depletion potential, are nontox...

During the past several years, there has been growing interest in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) using epithermal neutron beams. The dosimetry of these beams is challenging. The incident beam is comprised mostly of epithermal neutrons, but there is some contamination from photons and fast neutrons. Within the patient, the neutron spectrum cha...

The three-dimensional continuous-energy MCNP Monte Carlo code is used to develop a versatile and accurate reactor physics model of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor 2 (MITR-2). The validation of the model against existing experimental data is presented. Core multiplication factors as well as fast neutron in-core flux measur...

A team of scientists, engineers and medical researchers from the New England Medical Center (NEMC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Nuclear Reactor Laboratory have been developing Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), a binary radiation therapy, for the treatment of refractory tumors such as glioblastoma multiforme and melanoma...

The concept of neutron capture cancer therapy, originally suggested by Locher (l), is relatively straightforward. A compound containing a suitable neutron capture agent, e.g. B, is introduced into the patient. The compound must have been developed to selectively concentrate in tumor. Then the tumor and surrounding tissue are irradiated with neutron...

A prompt gamma neutron activation analysis facility has been constructed at the MIT Research Reactor using a diffracted beam from a multilayered graphite monochromator. A beam of 0.0143 eV neutrons of intensity 6 × 106s is available at the sample position. Backgrounds are low due to the use of the diffracted beam and are further improved by a sapph...

A series of studies of "ideal" beams has been carried out using Monte Carlo simulation with the goal of providing guidance for the design of epithermal beams for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). An "ideal" beam is defined as a monoenergetic, photon-free source of neutrons with user-specified size, shape and angular dependence of neutron curren...

The proposed research addressed the application of ESI`s particle removal process to the non-destructive decontamination of nuclear equipment. The cleaning medium used in this process is a solution of a high molecular weight fluorocarbon surfactant in an inert perfluorinated liquid which results in enhanced particle removal. The perfluorinated liqu...

Mice with glioma 261 intracerebral tumors were fed D, L-3-(p-boronophenyl)alanine (BPA) and irradiated with total BNCT tumor doses of 500 to 5000 RBE-cGy using single and multiple fractions of thermal neutrons to investigate the effect of fraction size and interfraction interval on survival.

The New England Medical Center (NEMC) - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) program in neutron capture therapy (NCT) in collaboration with the Brookhaven National Laboratory - Stonybrook program in NCT will shortly initiate a phase-I clinical trial of NCT for subcutaneous melanoma on the extremities. This paper briefly reviews the accepted...

The NEMC/MIT group is planning to initiate Phase I clinical trials of BNCT for deep-seated melanoma on the extremities. These trials will be carried out using the epithermal neutron beam at the 5 MW MIT Research Reactor (MITR-II). This paper outlines some of the preparations for these trials.

Collimation of neutron beams has a large effect on a number of therapy parameters of interest in BNCT. The effects of collimation include changes in dose rate, thermal neutron penetration and the degree of dose uniformity throughout the patient volume. Whether or not collimation of a neutron beam will improve a given therapy parameter depends on th...

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) involves administration of a boron compound followed by neutron irradiation of the target organ. The boron atom captures a neutron, which results in the release of densely ionizing helium and lithium ions that are highly damaging and usually lethal to cells within their combined track length of approximately 12...

Current research in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and radiation synovectomy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor is reviewed. In the last few years, major emphasis has been placed on the development of BNCT primarily for treatment of brain tumors. This has required a concerted effort in epithermal beam design and con...

For the past several years, an in-pile loop that simulates pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary coolant conditions has been operated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research reactor to test changes in chemistry that will reduce corrosion product activity deposition on ex-core surfaces. The basic design can be employed in any p...

This patent describes a method of measuring the level of a corrosive, high-pressure, high-temperature liquid in a closed container of a nuclear reactor. It comprises: providing a generally tubular structure connected to the closed container of the nuclear reactor so that the level of liquid in the tubular structure is indicative of the level of liq...

This paper describes the practical implementation of treatment planning procedures we have developed for the proposed clinical trial of neutron capture therapy (NCT) at NEMC and MIT in the Fall of 1991. Proper treatment planning for any form of radiation therapy is beneficial not only for the safety and optimal management of the patient, but can pr...

This paper describes the performance of the currently available epithermal neutron beam at MITR-II. This beam is one of the few clinically useful epithermal neutron beams available for BNCT in the world. The MITR-II epithermal neutron beam has a peak thermal neutron flux of greater than 4 × 108 n/cm2 s at 2 cm depth in tissue. Assuming a B-10 conce...

Because much of the theoretical rationale for NCT rests on the availability of agents capable of selectively transporting 10B to tumor cells, the ability to quantify differential 10B distributions in tissue exposed to such agents is clearly of major importance. Also, since the precise intracellular location of 10B can strongly influence the biologi...

A prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) facility has been built at the 5 MW MITR-II Research Reactor to support our ongoing boron neutron capture therapy (NCT) program. This facility is used to determine the concentration of B-10 in NCT relevant samples such as blood and urine. The B-10 concentration is needed to determine the radiation...

A series of “ideal neutron beam” studies has been carried out using Monte Carlo simulation with the goal of providing guidance for epithermal neutron beam design for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). An “ideal beam” is defined as a monoenergetic, photon-free source of neutrons with user-specified size, shape and angular dependence of neutron cu...

The T-NEMC/MIT program in neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a collaborative research endeavor between T-NEMC (one of the principal tertiary care teaching hospitals in the Boston area) and the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory at MIT, where the MIT Research Reactor, MITR-II, is located. The program has been federally funded since 1987 by the U.S. Department...

The radiotherapeutic management of primary brain tumors and metastatic melanoma in brain has had disappointing clinical results for many years. Although neutron capture therapy was tried in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, the results were not as hoped. However, with the newly developed capability to measure boron concentrations in blood a...

Monte Carlo based dosimetry and computer-aided treatment planning for neutron capture therapy have been developed to provide the necessary link between physical dosimetric measurements performed on the MITR-II epithermal-neutron beams and the need of the radiation oncologist to synthesize large amounts of dosimetric data into a clinically meaningfu...

Monte Carlo methods of coupled neutron/photon transport are being used in the design of filtered beams for Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT). This method of beam analysis provides segregation of each individual dose component, and thereby facilitates beam optimization. The Monte Carlo method is discussed in some detail in relation to NCT epithermal bea...

Several neutron beams that could be used for neutron capture therapy at MITR-II are dosimetrically characterized and their suitability for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and other types of tumors are described. The types of neutron beams studied are: 1) those filtered by various thicknesses of cadmium, D2O, 6Li, and bismuth; and 2) epithe...

The report presents topics presented at a workshop on neutron beams and neutron capture therapy. Topics include: neutron beam design; reactor-based neutron beams; accelerator-based neutron beams; and dosimetry and treatment planning. Individual projects are processed separately for the databases. (CBS)

The four rapporteurs listed above provided oral summaries and comments on what they believed were some of the important aspects of the Workshop. Those comments are provided here in written form. Also included are some issues which were raised during the Workshop and at the rapporteurs session which are felt to be worthy of further attention by the...

For this Workshop, the organizers have attempted to invite experts from all known centers which are engaged in neutron beam development for neutron capture therapy. The Workshop was designed around a series of nineteen invited papers which dealt with neutron source design and development and beam characterization and performance. Emphasis was place...

Two important developments in the field of neutron capture therapy (NCT) in recent years have been the ultra-wide thermal neutron beam1 and the epithermal neutron beam.2,3 Both these maneuvers improve the depth in tissue at which the therapeutic advantage falls to unity, often referred to as the “advantage depth”.3,4 Both neutron beams have contami...