BNCT for advanced or recurrent head and neck cancer.

The therapeutic effect of surgery and/or combination of conventional chemoradiotherapy is limited in the patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and locally advanced non-SCC of the head and neck. Currently, clinical trials of BNCT for head and neck cancers are being conducted in some institutes to verify its usefulness. BNCT was performed in ten patients with recurrent SCC, seven patients with recurrent non-SCC, and three patients with newly diagnosed non-SCC in our university between October 2003 and September 2007. Eleven patients showed complete remission, and seven patients showed partial remission of irradiated site. The effective rate [(CR + PR)/total cases] was 90 %. No severe acute or chronic normal tissue reactions were observed in any patients. BNCT is effective and safe in the patients with recurrent SCC and locally advanced non-SCC.