Development of Miniature High-Dose-Rate 252Cf Sources for Boron-Enhanced and Fast Neutron Brachytherapy

Californium-252 neutron brachytherapy (NBT) is extremely effective in causing rapid regression of bulky, localized, radioresistant (hypoxic) tumors. However, availability of a miniature, high-dose-rate (HDR) 252Cf source would greatly improve the clinical methodology. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Isotron, Inc., have co-developed a new generation of these 252Cf sources suitable for interstitial and intracavitary HDR NBT, with capsule dimensions comparable to those of HDR photon brachytherapy sources. Isotron's NBT system, which includes a remote afterloader system (RAS) for source delivery, will treat adult and pediatric cancer in eighteen sites throughout the body. The future integration of Isotron's NBT system into a multi-modality therapy with boronated pharmaceuticals is particularly exciting