The China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Tai'an City Central Hospital in East China's Shandong province signed a cooperation agreement on the construction of a Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) based treatment center on Dec 22. It marks CNNC's first self-developed BNCT cancer treatment facility, of which it holds fully independent intellectual property rights, entering the demonstration market application stage.

The BNCT facility

According to the cooperation agreement, the CIAE will provide a high intensity proton cyclotron based BNCT facility, the first of its kind in China, to Tai'an City Central Hospital, to jointly promote the implementation of the cyclotron based BNCT demonstration project. The BNCT treatment center is expected to complete the construction of its buildings in June 2024 and be ready for operation in June 2026.

This is another important example of the CIAE's focus on the integrated development of the nuclear technology innovation chain and industrial chain, and its successful application of nuclear technology in the field of people's health.

The BNCT is one of the most cutting-edge cancer targeted therapy technologies in tumor treatment in the world, and is often used in the treatment of head and neck tumors, and melanoma. The high intensity proton cyclotron based BNCT facility of the CIAE can be used not only for cancer treatment, but also for the production of radioisotope drugs, and will be an ideal choice for compact accelerator based neutron sources in the future.