When people ask where to start with BNCT, this is the list I share. Boron neutron capture therapy sits at the meeting point of medicine, chemistry and neutron physics. These ten starting points include reviews, an original clinical trial and an official reference report. You do not need to read them in order: choose a path below, then follow the questions that interest you. The list is an invitation to read critically and across disciplines.
Abhinav Jha, Co-founder, ASPL
The ten
1. Foundations and history
A Review of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy: Its History and Current Challenges
Will H. Jin et al. · 2022 · International Journal of Particle Therapy · OA
Why read it: Start here to place the neutron-capture idea in its historical setting and learn the vocabulary used throughout this list. The review connects early clinical work with the practical questions that later researchers inherited.
Read it if you are… student; clinician
Reading time: about 25–35 minutes.
2. A current overview
Advances in Clinical Trials of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
Xiaoling Li et al. · 2026 · Research · OA
Why read it: Use this recent review to map the clinical literature before following individual studies. Pay attention to how the authors group diseases and study designs: those distinctions help you decide which original reports to read next.
Read it if you are… clinician; student
Reading time: about 45–60 minutes.
3. The accelerator-based head-and-neck trial
Boron neutron capture therapy using cyclotron-based epithermal neutron source and borofalan (10B) for recurrent or locally advanced head and neck cancer (JHN002): An open-label phase II trial
Katsumi Hirose et al. · 2021 · Radiotherapy and Oncology · OA
Why read it: Read the original JHN002 report behind Japan’s 2020 approval pathway, rather than relying only on later reviews. It describes an open-label phase II study in recurrent or locally advanced head-and-neck cancer; focus on eligibility, endpoints, adverse-event reporting and the limits of a study without a randomized comparator.
Read it if you are… clinician
Reading time: about 25–35 minutes.
4. Accelerator-based neutron sources
Current development status of accelerator-based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy
Hiroaki Kumada et al. · 2023 · EPJ Techniques and Instrumentation · OA
Why read it: This review gives engineers a map of the accelerator approaches used in BNCT research and development. Read it to understand the questions that connect a neutron source to a hospital setting, then follow its references for individual systems.
Read it if you are… physicist; student
Reading time: about 25–35 minutes.
5. Boron delivery: BPA, BSH and new carriers
Boron delivery agents for neutron capture therapy of cancer
Rolf F. Barth et al. · 2018 · Cancer Communications · OA
Why read it: The boron compound deserves as much attention as the neutron source. This review introduces BPA and BSH alongside newer delivery approaches, making it a useful starting point for asking where a compound goes in the body and what evidence is needed before clinical study.
Read it if you are… chemist/biologist; student
Reading time: about 35–45 minutes.
6. Dosimetry and biological weighting
Photon iso-effective dose for cancer treatment with mixed field radiation based on dose–response assessment from human and an animal model: clinical application to boron neutron capture therapy for head and neck cancer
Sara J. González et al. · 2017 · Physics in Medicine & Biology · OA
Why read it: BNCT delivers a mixed field of radiations, so its doses cannot simply be read against conventional radiotherapy using fixed weighting factors. This paper proposes a photon-isoeffective dose model built from dose–response data and applies it to head-and-neck cases. It is a good entry point to the continuing discussion about how BNCT doses should be prescribed and reported.
Read it if you are… physicist; clinician
Reading time: about 40–50 minutes.
7. Nuclear medicine: ¹⁸F-FBPA PET
4-Borono-2-18F-fluoro-l-phenylalanine PET for boron neutron capture therapy-oriented diagnosis: overview of a quarter century of research
Kiichi Ishiwata · 2019 · Annals of Nuclear Medicine · OA
Why read it: This review connects the imaging tracer with the boron drug whose distribution clinicians want to estimate. Read it for the reasoning behind PET-based patient assessment and boron estimation, keeping the distinction between an imaging measurement and drug concentration in view.
Read it if you are… clinician; physicist
Reading time: about 30–40 minutes.
8. Treatment planning
Recent research progress of BNCT treatment planning system
Zhaotong Wang et al. · 2025 · Nuclear Engineering and Technology · OA
Why read it: A treatment plan brings anatomy, boron assumptions and dose calculations together. This review surveys planning systems and their requirements, giving readers a framework for comparing what different software tools calculate and what still needs checking.
Read it if you are… physicist
Reading time: about 30–40 minutes.
9. The field reference
Advances in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
International Atomic Energy Agency · 2023 · IAEA · OA
Why read it: Keep this report beside the papers as a reference rather than reading it straight through. Its chapters connect pharmaceuticals, radiobiology, neutron sources, planning and clinical work, and help reveal where one discipline’s assumptions become another discipline’s inputs.
Read it if you are… policy; physicist; clinician; chemist/biologist
Reading time: about 45–60 for selected chapters minutes.
10. Translation and future trial design
A clinician’s perspective on boron neutron capture therapy: promising advances, ongoing trials, and future outlook
Shumin Shen et al. · 2024 · International Journal of Radiation Biology · OA
Why read it: Finish with a clinical perspective on what future studies need to clarify. The review discusses differences between trials and directions for study design, providing questions to carry into a multidisciplinary research meeting.
Read it if you are… clinician; policy
Reading time: about 35–45 minutes.
Beyond the ten
Boron neutron capture therapy of cancer: where do we stand now?
Rolf F. Barth et al. · 2024 · Cancer Communications · OA
Why read it: Read this editorial when you want a brief entry into the field’s unresolved questions. Its compact format works well before a journal-club discussion, followed by the longer sources it cites.
Read it if you are… student; policy · Reading time: about 10–15 minutes.
Optimizing Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) to Treat Cancer: An Updated Review on the Latest Developments on Boron Compounds and Strategies
Andrea Monti Hughes et al. · 2023 · Cancers · OA
Why read it: Use this review after the delivery-agent primer to explore more recent compounds and research strategies. It helps a chemistry or biology reader frame questions about the path from laboratory studies to clinical investigation.
Read it if you are… chemist/biologist · Reading time: about 35–45 minutes.
Molecular Imaging for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy —18F-FBPA-PET, Its Implications and Expectations—
Yoshihiro Takai · 2019 · RADIOISOTOPES · OA
Why read it: This review examines how PET findings relate to boron distribution and biological weighting. Read it to ask what an image can establish about patient selection, and what remains uncertain at a smaller spatial scale.
Read it if you are… clinician; physicist · Reading time: about 20–30 minutes.
Article text in Japanese; English abstract available.
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy: A Review of Clinical Applications
Timothy D. Malouff et al. · 2021 · Frontiers in Oncology · OA
Why read it: This review provides another route into the clinical literature across disease sites. Use its references to compare the questions asked by different clinical groups rather than to rank therapies.
Read it if you are… clinician; student · Reading time: about 30–40 minutes.
Perceptions of Canadian Radiation Oncologists, Medical Physicists, and Radiation Trainees about the Feasibility and Need of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) in Canada: A National Survey
Al-Retage Al-Bader et al. · 2023 · Cancers · OA
Why read it: This survey asks Canadian radiation professionals and trainees about BNCT and its place in their setting. It is useful for thinking about professional awareness and implementation questions; reported perceptions are a different kind of evidence from a clinical trial.
Read it if you are… policy; clinician · Reading time: about 20–30 minutes.
Community
- International Society for Neutron Capture Therapy (ISNCT) — the field’s multidisciplinary professional society.
- International Congress on Neutron Capture Therapy (ICNCT) — the society’s congress series and a route into the research community.
Summaries are ours. Listing does not imply endorsement by authors or publishers. Not medical advice. Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.