The National Cancer Center in Tokyo has unveiled a new weapon to treat cancers long considered unbeatable: neutrons that attack cancer cells only.
NCC says it hopes to launch clinical trials for the new radiation therapy, called Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), by next March.
BNCT is a next-generation radiotherapy that is believed to be less invasive and easier to endure for cancer patients. It is administered in two steps. First, a patient is injected with drug compounds containing boron-10, which is known to accumulate in cancer cells. Next, low-energy neutrons are irradiated onto cancerous parts of the patient's body. When neutron beams hit boron, it causes a nuclear reaction, decays into alpha particles and lithium-7 nuclei, and kills cancer cells in the process.