An international dosimetry exchange for BNCT part II: computational dosimetry normalizations

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiotherapy
• Nuclear Medicine

Background:

• Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an advanced cancer treatment requiring precise dose delivery.
• Sharing clinical outcomes globally necessitates standardized dosimetry across participating centers.
• Current dose specification methods exhibit variability, hindering multi-center BNCT research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To normalize absorbed doses for European clinical centers involved in BNCT.
• To evaluate and compare dose specifications against established benchmarks.
• To establish a basis for accurate multi-center patient data analysis in BNCT.

Main Methods:

• Absorbed dose normalizations were performed for four European BNCT centers.
• Treatment plan calculations were benchmarked against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) dosimetry using a water phantom.
• Comparisons were made with earlier dosimetry exchanges between Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and MIT.

Main Results:

• Significant variations in calculated and measured doses were observed, dependent on 10B uptake.
• For a nominal dose of 10 Gy(w) using boronophenylalanine (BPA), maximum brain doses ranged from 7.6 to 13.2 Gy(w).
• Dose specifications at European centers were notably higher than at BNL, ranging from 32% to 74% increase.

Conclusions:

• Dose conversion is now feasible between participating BNCT centers.
• Standardized dosimetry is essential for future multi-center BNCT clinical trials.
• Implementation of these normalizations will enhance the reliability of comparative BNCT research.