Clinical Trial of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy commences in Japan

Source: Bio Spectrum, December 2019

Cancer Intelligence Care Systems, Inc. (CICS) and STELLA PHARMA CORPORATION will commence a Phase I clinical trial of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) for malignant melanoma and angiosarcoma, using the CICS-1 accelerator-based neutron capture therapy device with lithium targets developed by CICS, and the SPM-011 boron compound for use in BNCT developed by STELLA PHARMA, beginning in November 2019.

The Trial will be conducted in the National Cancer Center Hospital of the National Cancer Center (NCC) Japan.

BNCT is a method of cancer treatment in which a specially formulated compound of boron (10B) is injected intravenously and after the compound selectively accumulates into cancer cells, patients are exposed to external neutron radiation, causing the boron and neutrons to react, producing alpha rays and Li nuclei that selectively destroy cancer cells. This treatment method was first conducted in the U.S. in 1951 using neutron source from a nuclear reactor, and clinical research began in Japan in 1968.