In quest for new boron carriers for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) of cancer

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a promising binary treatment option for certain types of cancer. The BNCT method is based on the high probability of capturing thermal neutrons by the non-radioactive isotope 10B. Recently, mainly due to the development of accelerator-based neutron sources that can be installed in hospitals, interest in this technology has again increased rapidly around the world.

Members of the meeting of the Polish Consortium for Boron-Neutron Therapy in front of the entrance to the MARIA reactor

The Polish Consortium for Boron-Neutron Therapy aims to promote research in the area of BNCT and support to introduce this technology into clinical practice in Poland. On January 11, 2024, another meeting of the Consortium members was held at the National Centre for Nuclear Research in Świerk-Otwock. The meeting was attended by, among others, prof. Zbigniew Leśnikowski from the National Library of Chemical Compounds (NLCC) POL-OPENSCREEN and prof. Agnieszka Olejniczak from the Screening Laboratory at the Institute of Medical Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

NLCC, apart from its basic function as a center enabling the deposit of chemical compounds synthesized in national laboratories (universities, institutes, research laboratories, etc.) and making them available to interested entities for biological screening tests, also offers the possibility of bioprofiling potential boron carriers for BNCT at the initial stage of their research: www.pol-openscreen.pl