Suitability of boric acid as a boron drug for boron neutron capture therapy for hepatoma

Yi-Hsuan Hung; Yu-Chuan Lin; Yu-Ting Lin; Guan-Wen Shih; Jiunn-Wang Liao; Kuan-Sheng Chen; Hong-Ming Liu; Yi-Wei Chen; Yung-Jen Chuang; Chia-Min Yang; Jinn-Jer Peir; Chin-Hua Yang; Fong-In Chou

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109254

Suitability of boric acid as a boron drug for boron neutron capture therapy for hepatoma

Appl Radiat Isot. 2020 Oct:164:109254. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109254. Epub 2020 May 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
² Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
³ Graduate Institute of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁴ Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Oncology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Engineering & Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; Department of Radiology, Taoyuan General Hospital, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁹ Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Electronic address: fichou@mx.nthu.edu.tw.

PMID: 32554126
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109254

Abstract

Hepatoma is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Due to the poor outcomes of patients with late diagnosis, newer treatments for hepatoma are still needed. As an emerging therapy, boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) may be an effective solution in hepatoma management. In this study, boric acid (BA) was used as the boron drug for in vivo analysis of action mechanism. The N1S1 single liver tumor-bearing rat and the VX2 multifocal liver tumor-bearing rabbit models were used to investigate the retention status of BA in the tumor regions during BNCT. The autoradiographic examination showed BA can localize specifically not only in the hepatoma cells but also in tumor blood vessels. Our findings indicate that superior hepatoma targeting could be achieved in BA-mediated BNCT, which supports BA to be a suitable boron drug for BNCT for hepatoma.

Keywords: Autoradiographic investigation; BNCT; Boric acid; Hepatoma; Rabbit model; Rat model.

MeSH terms

Animals
Boric Acids / administration & dosage
Boric Acids / therapeutic use*
Boric Acids / toxicity
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / methods*
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / blood supply
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / radiotherapy*
Humans
Injections, Intravenous
Liver Neoplasms / blood supply
Liver Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
Male
Rabbits
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Regional Blood Flow
Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

Boric Acids
boric acid