Next generation of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents for cancer treatment

Paolo Coghi; Jinxin Li; Narayan S Hosmane; Yinghuai Zhu

doi:10.1002/med.21964

Next generation of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents for cancer treatment

Med Res Rev. 2023 Sep;43(5):1809-1830. doi: 10.1002/med.21964. Epub 2023 Apr 27.

Authors

Paolo Coghi¹, Jinxin Li¹, Narayan S Hosmane², Yinghuai Zhu³

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China.
² Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA.
³ Sunshine Lake Pharma Co., Ltd., Dongguan, China.

PMID: 37102375
DOI: 10.1002/med.21964

Abstract

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is one of the most promising treatments among neutron capture therapies due to its long-term clinical application and unequivocally obtained success during clinical trials. Boron drug and neutron play an equivalent crucial role in BNCT. Nevertheless, current clinically used l-boronophenylalanine (BPA) and sodium borocaptate (BSH) suffer from large uptake dose and low blood to tumor selectivity, and that initiated overwhelm screening of next generation of BNCT agents. Various boron agents, such as small molecules and macro/nano-vehicles, have been explored with better success. In this featured article, different types of agents are rationally analyzed and compared, and the feasible targets are shared to present a perspective view for the future of BNCT in cancer treatment. This review aims at summarizing the current knowledge of a variety of boron compounds, reported recently, for the application of BCNT.

Keywords: boron clusters; boron neutron capture therapy; boronated sugars; nanoparticles.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Boron / therapeutic use
Boron Compounds / therapeutic use
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy*
Humans
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Neoplasms* / radiotherapy

Substances

Boron
Boron Compounds