Boron neutron capture therapy boosts treatment effectiveness

A research team from Gakushuin University in Japan has developed a technique that helps boost the efficacy of boron neutron-capture therapy for cancer.

After injecting a boron compound into the patient, a beam of neutrons is directed at the cancer site; this causes the boron molecules to emit alpha particles that kill the cancer cells.

In current therapy boron injected into the bloodstream is distributed throughout the body, limiting the efficacy of the treatment. The university team developed a drug delivery system to ensure that a greater proportion of the boron ends up in the area of the tumor.

Specifically, the team combined boron with lipid molecules to create liposomes with diameters of 100-150nm, too large to exit through normal capillaries. However, the blood vessels around tumor masses have larger pore openings, so when the liposomes are injected into the bloodstream they and their boron payload selectively accumulate around cancer cells.