Evaluation of neutron dosimetry on pancreatic cancer phantom model for application of intraoperative boron neutron-capture therapy

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult neoplasms to cure and there is a need for new combinated therapy. If sufficient boron compound can be targeted accurate to the tumour, Boron Neutron-Capture Therapy (BNCT) can be applied to pancreatic cancer. We administrated BNCT to a cancer with pancreatic cancer patient using intraoperative irradiation. In this study, we performed preliminary dosimetry of a phantom model of the abdominal cavity. The flux of 8 > × 107 n/cm2/s (0.1 ratio) was 4.5 cm in depth from the surface in the case of simple irradiation, and the field of thermal neutrons was spread as 13 cm and 11.5 cm were usage of Void and Void with LiF collimation, respectively in thermal (OO-0011) mode. In the case of epithermal (CO-0000) mode, epithermal and fast components are four times higher at the surface level. In the case of mixed beam (OO-0000) mode, thermal neutron flux was the same as thermal neutron mode at a depth of 10 cm, but the gamma-ray component was two times higher than that of thermal neutron mode. With the use of Void and LiF collimation, thermal neutrons were selectively applied to the tumour combined with the CT-imaging of the cancer patient. This means that we could irradiate the tumour selectively and safely as possible, reducing the effects on neighboring healthy tissues. High resolution whole body dosimetry will be necessary to extend the application of BNCT to pancreatic cancer.