title: Boronated compounds for imaging guided BNCT applications.
abstract: Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is based on the capture of thermal neutrons by boron 10 ((10)B) nuclei that have been selectively delivered to tumor cells. The amount of 10-30 μg of boron for g of tumor mass is needed to attain an acceptable therapeutic advantage. Despite that the potentialities of BNCT have been demonstrated in several preclinical studies, this technique has not yet been fully accepted in the armory of tools for tumor treatment. This is partly due to the differences in the uptake and distribution of (10)B among patients and also to the uncertainty found in the determination of tumor-to-blood (10)B concentration ratio. Attention is now being payed to use the main imaging techniques to determine the in vivo biodistribution of BNCT agents. Most of the work has been devoted to the most promising BNCT agents, namely BPA, BSH and carborane derivatives. This review surveys studies carried out over the last decade, and outlines the role that NMR, PET and SPECT imaging may have to improve the efficacy of BNCT.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Chimica Organica, Università degli studi di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria, 7, 10125 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geninatti-Crich
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deagostino
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toppino
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venturello
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aime
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016754:Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular / Q000379:methods; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001896:Boron Compounds