Nuclear reactor as a cancer cure

Despite the millions of dollars that have been invested into research to improve methods of treatments for various types of cancer, oncological diseases continue to have a high mortality rate, remaining one of the main causes of death globally. Traditional cancer treatment methods, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy are effective in approximately only half of all patients.


A promising technology to more effectively treat certain cancers is Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT), a cutting-edge treatment method that uses neutrons captured during operation of a nuclear reactor to irradiate the tumor. A main advantage of NCT is the selective damage of tumor cells, avoiding many of the common severe side effects of other cancer treatment methods.

In the framework of a project (#1951) funded by the International Science and Technology Center, Russian scientists and researchers developed and implemented an experimental series of pre-clinical studies using NCT to treat melanoma in dogs. Research was carried out at a specially constructed irradiation room attached to the research reactor at the Moscow Institute of Physics (MEPhI), with scientists from MEPhI joined in their work by colleagues from SRC – Institute of Biophysics and the Russian Cancer Research Center.

The project results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of NCT of inoculated tumors and spontaneous melanoma, with complete involution of tumor observed in 80% of cases.

The scientists and researchers of ISTC Project #1951 are eager to perform the necessary work in order to introduce NCT in clinical practice.

Professor Otto Harling from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a collaborator on the ISTC Pro-ject, noted: “The Russian scientists have developed promising technologies to treat melanoma basing on in-tra-arterial administration of the compound into the tumor-feeding artery, and to treat osteo-sarcoma using BNCT of the removed neoplastic bone with subsequent reimplantation. The latter results are the first in the world and may find practical application in treating osteosarcoma in various sites.”

Media Contact

Olga Myznikova alfa

More Information:

http://www.istc.ru

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors