title: Boron neutron capture therapy: Moving toward targeted cancer therapy.
abstract: Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) occurs when a stable isotope, boton-10, is irradiated with low-energy thermal neutrons to yield stripped down helium-4 nuclei and lithium-7 nuclei. It is a binary therapy in the treatment of cancer in which a cytotoxic event is triggered when an atom placed in a cancer cell. Here, we provide an overview on the application of BNCT in cancer therapy as well as current preclinical and clinical evidence on the efficacy of BNCT in the treatment of melanoma, brain tumors, head and neck cancer, and thyroid cancer. Several studies have shown that BNCT is effective in patients who had been treated with a full dose of conventional radiotherapy, because of its selectivity. In addition, BNCT is dependent on the normal/tumor tissue ratio of boron distribution. Increasing evidence has shown that BNCT can be combined with different drug delivery systems to enhance the delivery of boron to cancer cells. The flexibility of BNCT to be used in combination with different tumor-targeting approaches has made this strategy a promising option for cancer therapy. This review aims to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the recent advances in the use of BNCT for targeted therapy of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Mirzaei
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Amirhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahebkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Rasoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Javid Sadri
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Nahand
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistery, Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jaafari
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mirzaei
mesh_terms: D016754:Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / Q000379:methods; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004337:Drug Carriers; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers