Progress in the Use of Gadolinium in NCT

The evaluation of possible improvement in the use of Gd in cancer therapy, particularly in the assessment of TPS, in reference to GdNCT, has been analyzed. At first the problem of the gadolinium compounds toxicity was reviewed identifying the Motexafin Gadolinium (De Stasio et al., 2006) as the best. Afterwards, the spectrum of IC and Auger electrons was calculated using a special method. Afterwards, this electron source has been used as input of the PENELOPE code (Salvat et al., 2006) and the energy deposit in DNA was well defined. Taking into account that the electron yield and energy distribution are related to the neutron beam spectrum and intensity, the shaping assembly architecture was optimized through computational investigations (Cerullo et al., 2005). Finally the study of GdNCT was performed from two different points of view: macrodosimetry using MCNPX, with calculation of absorbed doses both in tumour and healthy tissues, and microdosimetry using PENELOPE, with the determination of electron RBE through the energy deposit. The equivalent doses were determined combining these two kinds of data, introducing specific figures of merit to be used in TPS. According to these results, the GdNCT appears to be a fairly possible tumour therapy.

CERULLO Nicola;  DAQUINO Giuseppe Giovanni; 

BUFALINO Domenico; 

2008-12-09

ENEA

JRC48626

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC48626,