[cdn-nucl-l] FW: Neutron Therapy in Edmonton, Alberta

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

Fascinating news item from the BNCT listserv....

> ----------
> From: 	Carter Schroy[SMTP:CBS970@AOL.COM]
> Reply To: 	BNCT@MITVMA.MIT.Edu
> Sent: 	Friday June 02, 2000 7:43 PM
> To: 	BNCT@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: 	PR News Item on NCT
> 
> Neutron Therapy and Imaging Inc. - New Technologies to Treat Cancer and
> Vascular Diseases With Neutron Radiation.
> 
> EDMONTON, Alberta--(BW HealthWire)--June 1, 2000--Neutron Therapy and
> Imaging
> Inc., an Edmonton-based company, is announcing that it has developed new
> technologies to treat cancer and vascular diseases with neutrons.
> 
> With conventional radiation therapy, using photons and electrons, both the
> tumor and surrounding healthy tissues are damaged by the radiation. New
> techniques are being proposed to reduce the damage to healthy tissues
> while
> delivering lethal dose to the tumor. However, to reach a tumor surrounded
> by
> healthy organs, a photon or electron beam has to go through the healthy
> tissues, thus damaging them significantly. This indiscriminate damage
> results
> in the side effects known to both radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
> 
> Neutrons, however, have some extraordinary properties when it comes to
> delivering radiobiological dose. At their lowest energy, neutrons are
> relatively harmless compared to other types of radiation. That is, until
> they
> are captured by a suitable agent. The capture reaction releases enough
> energy
> to deposit sufficient radiation dose to kill cancer cells. This technique
> is
> referred to as Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT). Up until now, in order to
> perform NCT, a cancer clinic has to acquire a nuclear reactor or similarly
> expensive facility. Consequently, only a few prestigious cancer centers
> around the world have the capacity to use neutrons in cancer treatment.
> 
> NTI President, Dr. Nabil Adnani, discovered recently that a high energy
> linear accelerator (linac), available at most cancer clinics around the
> world, is capable of generating sufficient neutrons to perform NCT,
> neutron
> radiography and a host of other applications. As a consequence of this
> discovery, NTI invented several new technologies for patient treatment in
> oncology and cardiology using neutrons. These are:
> 
> In-Situ Activation Brachytherapy (US patent pending)
> 
> This technique relies on implanting a tumor with totally harmless seeds
> made
> from a non-radioactive material that has a high capacity to capture slow
> neutrons. The result of the capture reactions are prompt radiation
> emissions
> with sufficient energy to destroy the tumor. The big advantage of this
> technology over conventional brachytherapy is that it does not require any
> handling of radioactive material. Also, dose is deposited when and where
> needed. In other words, when the appropriate neutron beam is turned off,
> no
> more radiation is emitted by the seeds. Also, if the seeds happen to
> migrate
> to critical structures or unwanted positions, it is possible to choose not
> to
> activate them. Finally and perhaps most importantly, patient retreat is
> possible.
> 
> Intravascular Activation Brachytherapy (US patent pending)
> 
> Intravascular brachytherapy is gaining popularity because of its proven
> capacity to reduce the risk of restenosis in patients who have undergone
> coronary angioplasty also known as PTCA. One of the methods used today in
> intravascular brachytherapy post-PTCA involves the insertion of a
> radioactive
> stent in the artery where clogging has occurred. Intravascular activation
> brachytherapy, relies on stents made from a non-radioactive material with
> a
> large capacity to capture thermal neutrons and subsequently emit prompt
> radiation. At the end of neutron irradiation, no residual activity
> remains.
> The patient can be treated as many times as necessary and retreat is
> possible
> without catheter insertion.
> 
> Neutron Digital Radiography (NDR) (US patent pending)
> 
> NTI has also designed a new digital imaging system for neutron
> radiography.
> This digital neutron imaging system, named NDR, is a modification of the
> existing electronic portal imaging devices used for x-ray imaging. By
> being
> sensitive to hydrogen, neutron radiography has the capacity to reveal
> tissue
> information in a way similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For more
> details about licensing opportunities please call Dr. N. Adnani at
> 780-434-3321.
>