Tsubasa WATANABE Associate Professor
  • Period
    11th(Term; from Oct. 2020)
    部局連携型
  • Research Interests
    Radiation Oncology, Radiation Biology
  • Research Topic
    Controlling boron neutron capture reaction in vivo and exploring its new applications
  • Host Department
    Division of Radiation Life Science, Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science
  • Previous Affiliation
    Particle Radiation Oncology Research Center, Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University

Neutron capture reaction is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus absorbs neutrons. Among the atoms, the boron element (10B) in particular absorbs neutrons and then fissions into 7Li (lithium nucleus) and 4He (alpha particle). After fission, each nucleus travels only 10 μm in vivo, which is about the same size as the diameter of a single cell in the body. In principle, if the boron element can be delivered to the cancer in a concentrated manner, neutron irradiation can kill only the cancer cells. This treatment is called Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), and research on BNCT is being conducted mainly in Japan, where it is already covered by insurance for head and neck cancer. In this HAKUBI project, I am conducting basic research to apply BNCT to various diseases (intractable cancer and non-neoplastic intractable diseases) by controlling the boron neutron capture reaction in vivo.

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