Neutron-capture therapy with ultra-cold neutrons

The status of neutron-capture therapy of malignant tumors and its problems – damage to healthy tissue as a result of neutron transport to the irradiation location and presence in the therapeutic beam of a background consisting of γ rays and fast neutrons – are presented. To solve these problems, the authors have proposed using ultracold neutrons with energy less than 10 –7 eV, whose unique capability is to undergo total reflection from the surface of a condensed substance at any angle of incidence. Numerous works have demonstrated that such neutrons can be transported along neutron guides. The cross section for inelastic scattering of neutrons by hydrogen-containing substances – water, ethyl alcohol, and biological tissue – has been measured in an IR-8 beam of ultracold and very cold neutrons. At temperature 200–300 K, the experimental data are in very good agreement with calculations, but as temperature decreases further a discrepancy appears, which could be due to the inaccuracy of the model spectra of the oscillations hydrogen-containing substances used in the calculations. The use of ultracold neutrons opens up new possibilities of neutron-capture therapy for treating malignant tumors localized in body cavities or organs.