Clinical review of boron neutron capture therapy and a proposed strategy using epithermal neutron beams in Japan

Nakagawa, Yoshinobu*; Pooh, K. H.*; Kageji, Teruyoshi*; Uyama, Shinichi*; Kobayashi, Toru*; Sakurai, Yoshinori*; Matsumura, Akira*; Yamamoto, Tetsuya*; Kumada, Hiroaki

To make a new protocol using epithermal neutron beam for high-grade glioma patients, we elucidated the relationship between the radiation dose, histological tumor grade, and clinical outcome. One hundred and eighty-three patients with kinds of brain tumors were treated by BNCT since 1968, however, we performed a retrospective study of 105 patients with glial tumors treated in Japan between 1978 and 1997. As for the radiation side effect, we analyzed all patients(n=159) treated between 1977 and 2001. Ten patients with glioblastoma were treated according to the new protocol using epithermal neutron.