Business Wire

NTHU’s Boron Neutron Capture Therapy Center Begins Treating Overseas Brain Cancer Patients

Share

On February 14th the melodious strains of the fourth movement of Mahler's Fifth Symphony were heard inside the building of Tsing Hua Open pool Reactor (THOR) at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) - for this is the favorite piece of music of a European woman who was here to undergo Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) for a malignant brain tumor. This was her second course of treatment. The size of malignant glioma deep in her brainstem was reduced from 3.51 cm to 1.06 cm after the first treatment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200325005023/en/

To view this piece of content from mms.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

The BNCT treatment mechanism. Since being converted for use in BNCT, the research reactor at NTHU has been used to treat over 130 patients. (Graphic: National Tsing Hua University)

In cooperation with the Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), NTHU has converted THOR for use in BNCT. To date, the treatment has provided a new lease on life to over 130 cancer patients from around the world.

According to Professor Chou Fong-in, BNCT is a target radiation therapy in which the patient is first injected with a boron-containing drug; once the drug has accumulated in the tumor, the neutron beam is used to irradiate the tumor for delivering curative doses specifically to tumors, while sparing normal tissue.

As explained by TVGH oncologist Chen Yi-wei, boron-10 drug contains the structure like essential amino acids, and cancer cells need lots of nutrients to support their abnormal proliferation. Thus cancerous cells absorb almost all the boron-10 before the normal cells have a chance to. The boron acts as a kind of explosive charge, and once the cancerous cells have got their fill of it, the neutron beam is used to “detonate” the charge, killing off the cancer cells.

The husband of the patient is a physician. He said that his wife used to be an avid tennis player, but four years ago she unexpectedly saw two balls flying towards her at the same time, a classic symptom of diplopia. A computerized tomography (CT) scan, however, later revealed a lesion of glioma in her brain, located deep inside her brainstem. After undergoing two craniotomies with gamma knife radiotherapy, the glioma relapsed and had turned malignant. On the advice of an expert of Radiation Oncology, they inquired about the treatment being offered at the TVGH.

According to Dr. Chen, the key requirements for BNCT are a boron-containing drug suitable for absorption by cancer cells, and a stable neutron source with appropriate energy spectrum. NTHU’s research reactor has been retrofitted to provide the neutron source. It is even better than the accelerator driven neutron source developed in Japan for use in hospitals.

NTHU and the Taoyuan City Government are planning to jointly develop a medical complex as part of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis to be built near the Taoyuan Airport. The BNCT will play a major role at the new facility, and will be used to treat both Taiwanese and overseas patients.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Holly Hsueh
TEL: (886)3-5162006
e-mail: hoyu@mx.nthu.edu.tw

About Business Wire

For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Accellix Appoints Dr. Félix A. Montero-Julian as Vice President of Scientific Affairs7.7.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release

Accellix, a global leader in rapid point of need cytometry solutions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Félix A. Montero-Julian, PhD as Vice President of Scientific Affairs. Dr. Montero-Julian brings more than 30 years of international experience in scientific affairs, analytical development, and regulatory science to support Accellix’s strategic vision and innovation roadmap. Dr. Montero-Julian joins Accellix from bioMérieux, where he most recently served as Scientific Senior Director of Pharma Quality Control. His previous roles include Cytometry R&D Director at bioMérieux and Director of the Cellular Analysis Department at Beckman Coulter, underscoring a distinguished track record spanning biopharmaceuticals, industrial microbiology, and clinical diagnostics. “I’m excited to join Accellix during this period of dynamic growth and innovation,” said Dr. Montero-Julian. “I have great confidence in the potential of the Accellix Platform to transform quality control in cell and ge

NTT DATA Appoints Anne-Sophie Lotgering as Europe CEO7.7.2025 14:00:00 EEST | Press release

NTT DATA, a global leader in digital business and technology services, today announced the appointment of Anne-Sophie Lotgering as the new Chief Executive Officer for Europe at NTT DATA, Inc., effective 1 September 2025. Lotgering succeeds Chieri Kimura and will report directly to NTT DATA, Inc. President and Global CEO, Abhijit Dubey. She will also join NTT DATA, Inc.’s Executive Leadership Team. Lotgering brings over two decades of leadership experience in IT services and telecommunications, with a strong track record in B2B2C and B2B sales, digital marketing and transformation. She joins NTT DATA from Proximus NXT IT where she served as CEO, overseeing the IT integration of B2B operations across the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. Her recent achievements include the successful unification of multiple subsidiaries into a single, agile organization, strategically aligned with high-growth sectors such as cloud, cybersecurity and data. Her career spans senior roles at The Orange G

CorFlow Therapeutics Announces FDA Approval of the MOCA-II IDE Pivotal Trial to Validate a Novel Heart Attack Care Technology7.7.2025 14:00:00 EEST | Press release

CorFlow Therapeutics AG (CorFlow), a pioneering company in the field of cardiac care targeting microvascular disease, today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s technology for investigational device exemption (IDE), which allows the pivotal clinical trial to begin at U.S. hospitals. CorFlow will now prepare these clinical trial sites to receive CorFlow systems, undergo training and begin enrolling patients being treated for heart attacks. The IDE Pivotal Trial, MOCA-II, is intended to prospectively validate the diagnostic accuracy of the proprietary CorFlow CoFl system in determining the presence or absence of microvsacular obstruction (MVO) during a primary PCI procedure. The primary endpoint compares the CoFI diagnostic reading to a reference standard of diagnosis by a cardiac MRI scan. The trial is approved to enroll over 200 STEMI patients at prestigious research institutions in both the United States and Europe. Having successfully co

Reply AI Music Contest - Announced the Winner of the First International Competition Connecting AI Technologies With Music and Live Performances7.7.2025 13:21:00 EEST | Press release

Reply, an international group specialized in the creation of new business models enabled by Artificial Intelligence, is proud to announce the winner of the first edition of the Reply AI Music Contest—an international competition, organized in collaboration with the Kappa FuturFestival, aimed at creatives from around the world interested in exploring new ways to combine music, visuals, and AI technologies within live performances. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250707851551/en/ The winner is the production ‘Sinvocea’ by DeLaurentis, a DJ and producer based in Paris, who incorporated AI into her electronic compositions, utilising AI-generated vocals and real-time processing. A pioneer in the use of AI in music since 2018, DeLaurentis incorporated these tools into her creative process: treating technology as an extension of her voice, she has developed a unique approach where real-time vocal improvisation genera

TH Global Capital Closes 4 Major M&A Deals in Australia in 4 Months Including the Sale of The Missing Link to Infosys7.7.2025 12:59:00 EEST | Press release

TH Global Capital, an award-winning global boutique investment bank with a presence in 13 countries, has closed four high profile deals in the first four months of 2025, including the sale of The Missing Link to Infosys for 120 million AUD. This marks its tenth cross border transaction in Australia over the past 18 months, cementing its position as the mid-market M&A boutique investment bank of choice in Australia and New Zealand. Sale of The Missing Link to Infosys – The Missing Link, an award-winning cybersecurity and IT services provider based in Sydney, will join Infosys to deliver cybersecurity solutions and expand Infosys’s presence in Australia. Sale of TMLabs to Coforge – TMLabs, a ServiceNow Elite partner and digital transformation leader headquartered in Sydney, strengthens Coforge’s ServiceNow capabilities in Australia and leverages TMLabs’ existing contracts. Sale of Skie to Bluprintx – TH Global Capital’s 13th transaction in ANZ and 12th Salesforce deal globally. Skie, a l

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye