State-of-the-Art of BNCT and FNT as at End 2006 and Relevance to Proposed ENEA Activities

Given the state of progress of the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) project at ENEA as well as the discussions held at ENEA in the first part of 2006 concerning the construction of an accelerator to be used for medical purposes [with one possibility being far Fast Neutron Therapy (FNT)], it seems timely to give an overview of both therapies. This overview is based on the results presented at a FNT workshop held at Essen (Germany) in September 2006 and at the biannual BNCT congress held at Takamatsu (Japan) in October 2006, as well as on discussions with Japanese clinicians, both during and after the BNCT congress. After the overview, a short description is given of the existing ENEA facilities that are being exploited, or could be potentially exploited, for these therapies.