10th Young Researchers BNCT meeting in Helsinki, Finland
10th Young Researchers BNCT meeting in Helsinki took place on 26th - 29th of September, 2019 and was organized by the Finnish Society for Neutron Capture Therapy (FSNCT; http://icnct16.org/fsnct).
During the plenary sessions, 45 presentations and 37 short speeches were given during poster sessions. The National Centre for Nuclear Research was represented by mgr inż. Edyta Michaś, who presented an oral presentation on the possibility of using 3D printing in research on BNCT ("The possibility of using 3D printing technology in research on BNCT"), Dr. Kamila Maliszewska-Olejniczak, during the poster session presented the results of the grant Miniatura NCN ( "Biological effects of neutron mixed-beam irradiation for boron neutron capture therapy on cell survival and DNA double-strand breaks in cultured colon cancer cells") and by M.Sc. Martyna Araszkiewicz, Ph.D. student of Dr. Katarzyna Tymińska. MSc. Martyna Araszkiewicz gave a presentation during the poster session entitled "Modeling of the radiation situation in the rooms at BNCT research post using the MCNP code".
Conference participants had the opportunity to visit the BNCT facility at the Helsinki University Hospital (https://www.hyksin.com/en/services/medical-services/bnct/). The Helsinki University Hospital took over research on BNCT therapy, which was resumed after the closing of the nuclear reactor in Helsinki. BNCT therapy was used in 250 patients with glioblastoma or head and neck cancer in Helsinki in the years 1999–2011, using a nuclear reactor as a neutron source. The results were considered to be overall positive. The BNCT stand was presented as the first in Europe based on the accelerator system by Neuron Therapeutics (Neutron Therapeutics NuBeam Technology). The participants visited all rooms, including the room with the accelerator, with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the equipment range and obtain relevant information that can be used in the construction of the BNCT station at the MARIA reactor in Poland in NCBJ.
