Applications and perspectives of boron-enriched nanocomposites in cancer therapy

Recently, boron compounds have attracted increasing attention both in academic laboratories and in the pharmaceutical industry. Boron, in particular the 10B isotope, has the unique capability of absorbing a slow neutron to initiate a nuclear reaction with release of energetic particles such as α- and Li-particles, which is not observed in its carbon analogues. The nuclear capture reaction concept has been adopted in radiation therapy and used in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). BNCT is a potentially promising treatment for malignant brain tumors as well as other cancers, despite the limitation of a scarcity of neutron sources. There is the need in advanced research centers to construct high boron-containing composites as BNCT agents and develop more efficient drug carriers. This review discusses recent works on the development of boron-based therapeutic nanomaterials as BNCT agents.