Physical and biological doses produced from neutron capture in a 235U foil.

As a follow-on study to the feasibility of neutron capture therapy (NCT) with 235U brachytherapy seeds, physical doses were calculated and measured for the radiation from a 235U foil in a lucite phantom which was irradiated at the epithermal neutron irradiation port of the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor. In addition, cell survival experiments were performed to obtain the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for the neutron part of the radiation. The calculated absorbed doses agree with the measured ones. From cell survival experiments, it is deduced that the fission neutrons from the 235U foil have a RBE of 3.0 while the fast neutrons in the beam have a RBE of 3.8. Also observed is that, with the cells 7 mm from the foil, a significant amount of absorbed dose comes from the beta rays of 235U fission events. This absorbed dose from beta rays is a significant addition to the therapeutic dose. Due to the limited ranges of beta rays in tissue, this absorbed dose is restricted to the vicinity of the foil. This is the first demonstration of beta rays as part of NCT.

The biological effects of Auger electrons compared to alpha-particles and Li ions.

The present study reports the results of V-79 Chinese hamster cell survival studies in which Auger electron emission was stimulated in gadolinium (Gd) after thermal neutron capture. When a porphyrin that had previously been labeled with boron (10BOPP) was also labeled with Gd (Gd-10BOPP), the cells were incubated with Gd-10BOPP to assess the compound's ability to physiologically transport the Gd into the cell, and localize the Gd atoms in or near the cell's critical target, presumably the DNA. It was anticipated that Auger electron emission, stimulated during the 157Gd (n, gamma)158Gd interaction, would impart additional high LET damage to that observed from the alpha-particle and Li ion during the 10B(n, alpha) 7Li reaction. Following irradiation with thermal neutrons from the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor, the effectiveness of the Auger electrons was determined by comparing the response of cells incubated with 10BOPP, where damage was imparted by the boron neutron capture (BNC) products, to that from Gd-10BOPP, with equal concentration of 10B in both solutions. An Auger effectiveness factor of approximately 2 was found for the Gd-10BOPP cells. The Auger effectiveness observed with Gd strongly suggested that the 10BOPP molecule physiologically transported the Gd3+ ion intracellularly where it probably bound to DNA. Others have reported that Gd3+ does, in fact, complex with DNA. While depositing less energy per interaction than the high LET BNC reaction by-products, Auger electron ionization was more effective.