boron and Neurilemmoma

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are relatively rare neoplasms with poor prognosis. At present there is no effective treatment for MPNST other than surgical resection. Nonetheless, the anti-tumor effect of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) was recently demonstrated in two patients with MPNST. Subsequently, tumor-bearing nude mice subcutaneously transplanted with a human MPNST cell line were injected with p-borono-L-phenylalanine (L-BPA) and subjected to BNCT. Pathological studies then revealed that the MPNST cells were selectively destroyed by BNCT.

Topics: Animals; Boron; Boron Neutron Capture Therapy; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Humans; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Neurilemmoma; Tissue Distribution

We studied the uptake of boron after 100 mg/kg BPA infusion in three meningioma and five schwannoma patients as a pre-BNCT feasibility study. With average tumour-to-whole blood boron concentrations of 2.5, we discuss why BNCT could, and probably should, be developed to treat severe forms of the studied tumours. However, analysing 72 tumour and 250 blood samples yielded another finding: the plasma-to-whole blood boron concentrations varied with time, suggesting that the assumed constant boron ratio of 1:1 between normal brain tissue and whole blood deserves re-assessment.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Boron; Boron Compounds; Boron Neutron Capture Therapy; Brain Neoplasms; Feasibility Studies; Female; Fructose; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Male; Meningioma; Middle Aged; Neurilemmoma; Phenylalanine; Tissue Distribution; Young Adult