Therapeutic potential of atmospheric neutrons

Abstract

It has been shown that BNCT may be used with a natural source of neutrons, and may potentially be useful for the treatment of micro-metastases. The atmospheric neutron flux is much lower than that utilized during standard NBCT. However the purpose of the proposed study is not to replace the ordinary NBCT but to test if naturally occurring atmospheric neutrons, considered to be an ionizing pollution at the Earth's surface, can be used in the treatment of a disease such as cancer. To finalize this study, it is necessary to quantify the biological effects of the physically deposited dose, taking into account the characteristics of the incident particles (alpha particle and Lithium atom) and radio-induced effects (by-stander and low dose effect). One of the aims of the presented paper is to propose to experimental teams (which would be interested in studying the phenomena) a simple way to calculate the dose deposition (allometric fit of free path, transmission factor of brain).

Characteristic Features of Stem Cells in Glioblastomas: From Cellular Biology to Genetics

“…Second, glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain tumor in adults and is among the most lethal and least successfully treated solid tumors (46), occurring in 2–3 cases per 100 000 people in Europe and North America (167). The median survival time of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) following treatment is 12 months, with only 3–5% of patients surviving longer than 5 years (32, 56).…”

“…Using a simple keyword search of "glioblastoma stem cell" in key journal search engines produced thousands of related articles in 2011: ScienceDirect, 5541; MEDLINE, 7266; and PubMed, 832. There was a significant increase compared with the same search dated up to and including 1992: ScienceDirect, 496; MEDLINE, 832; PubMed, 44. Second, glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain tumor in adults and is among the most lethal and least successfully treated solid tumors (46), occurring in 2-3 cases per 100 000 people in Europe and North America (167). The median survival time of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) following treatment is 12 months, with only 3-5% of patients surviving longer than 5 years (32,56).…”

Tissue composition effect on dose distribution in neutron brachytherapy/neutron capture therapy

“…The resulting lithium ions and alpha particles carry the energy away. 3,4 The average energy in this case is 2.33 MeV. 5 Due to the limited ranges of the reaction products in tissue (5-9 m), the destructive effects of the resulting projectiles are limited to cells containing 10 B.…”