Liposomal boron delivery system for neutron capture therapy

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a binary cancer treatment based on the nuclear reaction of two essentially nontoxic species, B-10 and thermal neutrons. High accumulation and selective delivery of boron into tumor tissue are the most important requirements to achieve efficient neutron capture therapy of cancers. This review focuses on the liposomal boron delivery system (BDS) as a recent promising approach that meets these requirements for BNCT. BDS involves two strategies: (1) encapsulation of boron in the aqueous core of liposomes and (2) accumulation of boron in the liposomal bilayer. Various boronated liposomes have been developed and significant boron accumulation into tumor tissue with high tumor/blood boron ratios has been achieved by BDS.