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A new approach to determine tumor-to-blood 10B concentration ratios from the clinical outcome of a BNCT treatment.

González SJ, Carando DG, Bonomi MR

UARyCN, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Av. Del Libertador 8250, 1429 Buenos Aires, Argentina. srgonzal@cnea.gov.ar

A new approach to determine the tumor-to-blood (10)B concentration ratio in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is introduced. It is a statistical method, which uses maximum likelihood estimation on the clinical outcome of a BNCT treatment. Its performance is shown in a clinical case of cutaneous multiple nodular melanomas. The calculations involve a detailed dosimetry analysis, the determination of tumor control probabilities for the different nodules, the maximum likelihood estimation itself, and a parametric bootstrap to obtain confidence intervals for the tumor-to-blood ratio. The obtained ratio is 3.05 +/- 0.46 with a 95%-confidence interval. These results are consistent with those found in literature. Moreover, a single patient with multiple nodules proves enough to get statistically relevant results. The proposed method does not involve surgery and can be performed after a BNCT treatment without being invasive for the patient.

Published 13 August 2004 in Appl Radiat Isot, 61(5): 923-8.
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