Assessment of long-term risks of secondary cancer in paediatric patients with brain tumours after boron neutron capture therapy

This study firstly explored the risks of secondary cancer in healthy organs of Chinese paediatric patients with brain tumours after boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Three neutron beam irradiation geometries (i.e. right lateral, top to bottom, posterior to anterior) were adopted in treating patients with brain tumours under the clinical environment of BNCT. The concerned organs in this study were those with high cancer morbidity in China (e.g. lung, liver and stomach). The equivalent doses for these organs were calculated using Monte Carlo and anthropomorphic paediatric phantoms with Chinese physiological features. The risk of secondary cancer, characterised by the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) factor given in the BEIR VII report, was compared among the three irradiation geometries. The results showed that the LAR was lower with the PA irradiation geometry than with the two other irradiation geometries when the 2 cm diameter tumour was at a depth of 6 cm on the right side...
Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - Category: Physics Authors: Source Type: research