Potential targets for boron transport in boron neutron capture therapy

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a binary cancer therapy that involves boron (¹⁰B) drug administration and epithermal/thermal neutron irradiation. The nuclear fission reaction between low-energy thermal neutrons and ¹⁰B atoms accumulated in cancer cells generate high linear energy transfer (LET) species (α and ⁷Li particles). These species are short range (4-10 μm, less than a cell diameter) and therefore offer potential to kill cancer cells selectively and spare surrounding healthy cells if the ¹⁰B drug can be targeted specifically and sufficiently to cancer cells. Numerous studies have explored the role of selected targets on the influence of ¹⁰B transport to make progress in developing novel, safe and effective ¹⁰B carriers. These findings would expand the clinical BNCT services to more patients, with potential to make BNCT a more precise and effective treatment modality for various types of cancer. This review summarizes the current knowledge of a variety of potential targets for ¹⁰B transport in BNCT.