The Finnish boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) project

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a new, binary radiotherapy, which is being developed especially for severe brain tumours, incurable by the present means (for an overview see articles in [1]). A suitable 10B containing carrier compound is injected into the blood circulation and taken up selectively by the cancer cells. When these cells are subjected to a thermal neutron field, the 10B atoms capture the neutrons and undergo fission reaction. The energy thereby released is killing the cancerous cell. The Finnish BNCT research and development project [2,3] is in the situation where all the basic conditions exist to start clinical trials. An epithermal neutron irradiation facility has been constructed at the Finnish research reactor (FiR 1) operated by VTT in Otaniemi. This article is an overview over the developments within the Finnish BNCT project. A research project to carry out clinical application of BNCT was established in Finland in the early 1990's. It was motivated both by the need to create new uses for FiR 1 and by the ideas to start research and production of new boron carriers for BNCT in Finland. Soon also other medical, medical physics and chemistry disciplines joined the project [2,4,5]. Now the project involves scientists from different departments of University of Helsinki (HU), Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH), Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and of the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) and other Finnish universities. The aim of this project has been to start BNC-treatment of malignant brain tumours in Finland by the end of the century.