Siberian nuclear physicists have sent equipment for the treatment of oncological diseases to China, where the clinical trials of an accelerator neutron source will start in a couple of months, according to the press service of the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics.
The prototype of the accelerator, which is now being assembled in China, was the first in the world to appear at the Siberian Institute of Nuclear Physics. There it occupies several floors. Over the years of its existence, it has been constantly modernized, and now the proton flux is so powerful that it burns through a thick layer of metal in just a second.
This principle underlies boron neutron capture therapy. Before the procedure, a patient must take a drug with isotope boron-10. It accumulates in cancer cells. A blow to them with neutrons provokes a mini-nuclear explosion, though healthy cells are not damaged. The tests have shown that this method is effective in treating glioblastoma (brain cancer).
Ru-Main, 30.12.2020
