Jaro
Dear President,
I'm glad to inform You that our reasearch group performed the first procedure on the explanted human liver affected by diffused and multi-focal metastases. You can find details of the operation in the attachments.
I ask your courtesy to diffuse the attached sheets to the entire BNCT community.
Eventual reamarks and comments sent by yourself and every BNCT colleague, is welcome at the following address:
tazio.pinelli@pv.infn.it tazio.pinelli@pv.infn.it
Whith my collegue prof. Aris Zonta, I thank you very much
Best regards
Tazio Pinelli
Professor of Nuclear Physics
Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics
University of Pavia
At 8 a.m. of Wednesday December 19 (2001) the surgical team directed by Prof. A. Zonta started, at San Matteo Polyclinic of Pavia, the procedure of liver self-transplant in a man 48 years old. Starting from 3.15 p.m. a BPA-Fructose solution (BPA dose of 300 mg per Kg. of the patient body) was intravenously administered for 2 hrs.
After 1 and 2 hrs, biopsies of tumor and normal hepatic tissues were performed for the boron concentration measurement. The liver after having been explanted at 7.50 p.m. has been transferred to the Applied Nuclear Energy Laboratory (LENA) of the University of Pavia at 8.30 p.m.
Having previously measured the boron concentration in both cancerous and normal tissues, and defined the treatment plan, the Physicist team, directed by Prof. T. Pinelli, submitted the liver to a neutron irradiation up to reach a fluence of 4x1012 cm-2 (around 11 m.) at the irradiation position inside the thermal column of the Triga Mark II reactor. At 9.15 p.m. the treated liver returned to the surgery room and reimplanted starting from 9.55 p.m.
The procedure was completed at 6.15 a.m. of December 20.
The patient was recovered at the reanimation department for about 2 weeks and discharged Friday January 25 (2002).
Before leaving the San Matteo Polyclinic the patient recovered all his normal function and appeared in good general conditions.
As regarding the result of the therapy the Computer Assisted Tomography shows all metastases in a necrosis condition while the normal tissues appear well preserved.
It's important to remark that, due to the sharp imagine of the necrotic tissues, the number of the treated metastases appear larger with respect to those evidenced, before the neutron therapy, by the various diagnostic tools (about 20 Vs 14).
The entire operation has been attended by all researchers participating to the 13 years TAOrMINA project (see attached cover)