Purpose: We performed a computational study to investigate the feasibility of borocaptate sodium (BSH)/ lipiodol-boron neutron capture therapy (BSH/lipiodol-BNCT) for multiple liver tumors using Simulation Environment for Radiotherapy Applications (SERA), a currently available BNCT treatment planning system.
Methods and Materials: Three treatment plans for BSH/lipiodol-BNCT using two or three epithermal neutron beams in one fraction were generated for 4 patients with multiple liver tumors using the SERA system. The B-10 concentrations in the tumor and the liver assumed in the study were 197.3 and 15.3 ppm, respectively; and were obtained from experimental studies in animals. The therapeutic gain factors for the liver tumors, defined as the minimum dose to the tumor/maximum dose to the liver, and the inhomogeneity index of the thermal neutron fluence for the whole of the liver, defined as the maximum neutron fluence - minimum neutron fluence/mean neutron fluence, were evaluated in each plan.
Results: Three epithermal neutron beams incident on the anterior, posterior, and right side of the patient can deliver the most homogeneous distribution of thermal neutron fluence to the whole of the liver and provide the greatest therapeutic gain factors for tumors in the right lobe and approximately equal therapeutic gain factors for tumors in the left lobe, compared with the two opposed (anterior-posterior) and two orthogonal (anterior-right) beams.
Conclusions: From a dosimetric viewpoint, the BSH/lipiodol-BNCT treatment plan using three epithermal neutron beams is the most suitable for the treatment of multiple liver tumors. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc.