A física da terapia de captura de nêutrons pelo boro

Abstract

In this paper, we make a short exposition of how one of the fundamental concepts in Nuclear Physics, nuclear fission, and its resultant components have applications in medicine, in the so-called boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). This therapy represents an alternative treatment for cancer and is able to replace, in some cases, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The pharmaceutical that actuates in BNCT is boron-10: after being injected in the patient, it undergoes an exposition a low-energy neutron-beam radiation coming from a nuclear reactor. Although nowadays the BNCT does not entirelly replace other therapies, it is a good axample for the application of concepts of modern Physics in medicine. © by the Sociedade Brasileira de Física. © by the Sociedade Brasileira de Física.