Fast and Furious: Fast Neutron Therapy in Cancer Treatment

Konstantin Gordon; Igor Gulidov; Timur Fatkhudinov; Sergey Koryakin; Andrey Kaprin

doi:10.14338/IJPT-22-00017

Fast and Furious: Fast Neutron Therapy in Cancer Treatment

Int J Part Ther. 2022 Aug 5;9(2):59-69. doi: 10.14338/IJPT-22-00017. eCollection 2022 Fall.

Authors

Konstantin Gordon^{1

2}, Igor Gulidov², Timur Fatkhudinov¹, Sergey Koryakin², Andrey Kaprin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "People's Friendship University of Russia," Medical Institution, Moscow, Russia.
² A. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center-branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Obninsk, Russia.

Abstract

Fast neutron therapy has been used for decades. In conjunction with recent advances in photonic techniques, fast neutrons are no longer of much oncologic interest, which is not unequivocally positive, given their undoubted therapeutic value. This mini-review recalls the history of medical research on fast neutrons, considers their physical and radiobiological properties alongside their benefits for cancer treatment, and discusses their place in modern radiation oncology.

Keywords: cancer treatment; fast neutrons; radiation therapy.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Funding: The corresponding results were obtained with the financial support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia; Agreement of October 7, 2021 No. 075-15-2021-1356 (internal number of the Agreement 15. SIN.21.0011); (RF ID 0951.61321X0012). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, or interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.