Five researchers, experts in different aspects of BNCT, will give lectures in Chemistry, Physics, Clinics, Biology and General current status of BNCT.
BNCT Overview: “BNCT overview and opportunities”
Prof. Dr. Ignacio Porras
Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics, University of Granada, Spain
Physics degree from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1987 and Ph.D. from University of Granada in 1992. Associate Prof. of the University of Granada since 1993 and Professor of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics since 2016. Director of the University Chair ‘Neutrons for Medicine’ in Granada University since 2017 and President of the International Society for Neutron Capture Therapy since 2018.
Prof. Porras is the leader of the Granada BNCT group, the first in Spain dedicated to BNCT research, starting in 2007. In collaboration with CERN (n_TOF collaboration), Institute Laue Langevin of Grenoble, the National Accelerator Center of Seville, the Institute of Material Sciences of Barcelona and The University of Zaragoza, this interdisciplinary group pursue different objectives: the reduction of uncertainties in BNCT treatment planning by obtaining accurate nuclear, radiobiological, and single cell boron distribution data, the search of new boron compounds that may increase the selective tumor uptake, and the design and development of an Accelerator based BNCT facility which the most reduced fast neutron component known (proyect NeMeSis).
Biology: “An updated overview of radiobiological studies using accelerator-based BNCT systems in the world”
Dr. Mitsuko Masutani
National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Mitsuko Masutani is a Professor of Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Molecular and Genomic Biomedicine, Center for Bioinformatics and Molecular Medicine, affiliated with Central Radioisotope Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute as a guest researcher. She studies biology of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and has been involved in preclinical studies of accelerator-based BNCT system with solid Li-target for National Cancer Center using cell-based assays and mouse models. Her group also proposed a biological evaluation model of neutron beam in a beam-depth direction utilizing mouse layers. Biological studies of BNCT include cellular and extracellular early changes induced after BNCT. The potential biomarkers and their functions were being studied using comprehensive omics analysis, including transcriptomes, proteome and metabolomes by collaboration networks.
Physics: “The role and challenges of a Physicist in BNCT and What I learnt”
Prof. Dr. Yuan Hao Liu
Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Liu is a physicist and does a little bit of everything in other BNCT subjects. He graduated from the National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan and granted his Ph.D. degree in 2009. He spent one year time in JRC Petten when he had his first young BNCT meeting in Birmingham 2007. Right after his graduation, he joined the Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center of NTHU, running the THOR reactor-based BNCT project. In August 2010, the THOR successfully performed the 1st BNCT treatment. Liu was the young chairperson of the YBNCT-2011 held in Hsinchu. In late 2013, he left NTHU and started a new position in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2014. He is also the founder of Neuboron Medtech Ltd. (now is expanded and known as Neuboron Medical Group). Between 2019 – 2021, he built the 1st accelerator-based BNCT center in China, in the Xiamen Humanity Hospital. On October 9, 2022, Neuboron and the hospital successfully conducted the 1st in-hospital BNCT treatment outside Japan, 12 years after the first BNCT case at THOR. Liu currently serves as the Member at Large in the Executive Board, and has been a Councilor of ISNCT since 2010.
Chemistry: “Drug delivery systems for boron neutron capture therapy”
Dr. Nomoto Takahiro
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Takahiro Nomoto studied materials science in Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, starting his career as a researcher for biomaterials and drug delivery. After obtaining Ph.D., he has worked as the assistant professor in Tokyo Institute of Technology. He started his original research projects by re-interpreting/constructing Ringsdorf model of polymer-drug conjugates. The most important achievement is the extremely simple polymer-drug conjugates for boron neutron capture therapy by the use of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and p-boronophenylalanine (BPA). His team constructed the PVA-BPA complexes utilizing boronate esters between hydroxy groups in PVA and phenyl boronic acid moieties in BPA. Compared with free BPA, PVA-BPA exhibited enhanced tumor accumulation and prolonged intratumoral retention, thereby exerting almost complete cure of malignant tumors in in vivo models [Nomoto T.* et al., Science Advances 6, eaaz1722 (2020)]. He is working with medical doctors and pharmaceutical companies for practical applications of the developed drug delivery systems.
Clinics: “BNCT for malignant brain tumors, reactor to accelerator”
Prof. Dr. Shin-Ichi Miyatake
Kansai Medical BNCT Center, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan
Prof. Dr. Shin-Ichi Miyatake studied Medicine at the Kyoto University Medical School. He has been Professor at the Osaka Medical College in the Department of Neurosurgery and in the Cancer Center, and he is currently Professor at Kansai Medical BNCT Center in the Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University. He is member of several academic and professional societies, like the Japan Neurosurgical Society (board-certified Councilor), the Japan Society of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (Councilor) and the The Society of Neuro-Oncology. He was president of 27th Japanese Society of Neuro-Oncology meeting and 6th Japanese Society of Neutron Capture Therapy meeting in 2009. He is also a member of the Board of Councilors of the ISNCT. His work in BNCT had been key for the development of the therapy and its use in a numerous number of patients. He was the principal investigator of company-lead, phase 1 and phase 2 trial of accelerator-based BNCT for recurrent malignant gliomas and the principal investigator of investigator-lead phase 2 trial of accelerator-based BNCT for recurrent and refractory high-grade meninigiomas. All of his work in BNCT enabled him to win 2014 the Hatanaka Award from 16th International Congress of Neutron Capture Therapy.