[ RadSafe ] Boron neutron capture therapy safe, effective for recurrent head and neck cancer

[John Jacobus]

This is certainly interesting news in the treatment of
sever and advanced forms of head and neck cancers.  It
beats taking the organ out, irradiating it, and
putting it back into the patient.  

--- ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>       Boron neutron capture therapy safe, effective
> for recurrent head and neck cancer
> 9/5/2007
> By: Reuters Health
> 
>       NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Sep 5 - Boron
> neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is safe and effective
> in the treatment of inoperable, locally recurrent,
> and previously irradiated head and neck carcinomas,
> according to results of a prospective, phase I/II
> study conducted in Finland.
>   "Head and neck carcinomas that recur locally after
> conventional irradiation pose a difficult
> therapeutic problem," Dr. Heikki Joensuu of Helsinki
> University Central Hospital and colleagues write in
> their paper, published in the August issue of the
> International Journal of Radiation Oncology,
> Biology, and Physics.
>   The researchers examined the safety and efficacy
> of BNCT. The treatment comprises IV administration
> of a nonradioactive boron carrier, such as
> boronophenylalanine-fructose (BPA-F, 400 mg/kg),
> which accumulates in cancer tissue. Afterward, but
> on the same day, irradiation with neutron beams is
> directed at the tumor site, causing the release of
> high-energy particles within the tumor tissue. As a
> result, a large dose of radiation is directed at the
> tumor tissue, sparing adjacent normal tissues.
>   Dr. Joensuu and colleagues included 12 patients
> with inoperable, locally recurred head and neck
> cancer in the open-label study. Each patient was
> scheduled to receive two BNCT treatments,
> administered three to five weeks apart. 
>   The patients were followed-up at four-week to
> 12-week intervals after BNCT. 
>   Of the 12 patients, 10 received BNCT twice and two
> were treated once. Ten patients (83%) responded to
> BNCT. Of these, seven (58%) achieved a complete
> response and three (25%) achieved a partial
> response. Two patients (17%) had stabilized disease
> for 5.5 and 7.6 months. Four of the seven complete
> responses were ongoing at the time of analysis, with
> a median duration of 14.0 months. The partial
> responders had a median duration of 6.8 months. 
>   Disappearance or substantial relief of tumor pain
> after BNCT was observed in six patients (50%). Four
> patients (33%) had marked relief of dysphagia, and
> four patients had less trismus after treatment. 
>   "The median time to disease progression was 9.8
> months, and the median overall survival time 13.5
> months," Dr. Joensuu and colleagues report. "Five
> (41%) patients are alive 12.8 to 19.2 months after
> treatment initiation, and four of these patients are
> alive without disease recurrence." 
>   Radiation mucositis, fatigue, and oral or neck
> pain were the most common severe acute adverse
> effects. Two patients experienced late severe
> adverse effects. One patient had grade 3 xerostomia
> and one had grade 3 dysphagia.
>   Last Updated: 2007-09-04 19:30:04 -0400 (Reuters
> Health)
>   Int J Radiation Oncology Biol Phys 2007.
> 
> 
> Roy Herren
>        
> 

+++++++++++++++++++
"If you guard your toothbrushes and diamonds with equal zeal, you'll probably lose fewer toothbrushes and more diamonds."
- Former national security advised McGeorge Bundy
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com


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