Neutron kerma coefficient: Reference tissue for tumours

Neutron kerma coefficients were calculated in different media: 4 malignant tumours, 5 normal tissues and 3 tissue substitute in the range 11 eV-29 MeV. The objective was to identify which is the material that better reproduces the behavior of these tumours and tissues. These tissues have clinical interest in interstitial brachytherapy applications with fast neutron source (Cf-252). The small differences of elemental composition among these tissues produce variation in the neutron kerma coefficients. The results show that the neutron kerma coefficients for malignant tumours are smaller than soft tissue from 6% to 9%. Also, the muscle is the tissue that best represents the dosimetric behavior for the tumours and tissues analyzed in this paper for neutron energies >1 keV, where this coefficients show minor variation.