Thermal neutron capture therapy (NCT) using 10B-conjugated antimelanoma antibodies: Quantification of 10B on cultured human melanoma cells

Since the success of human melanoma treatment by a single NCT application using 10B-dopa analogue, 10B1-paraboronophenylalanine, a metabolic substrate for melanin, the authors have been investigating other melanoma-seeking 10B agents which could in principle be applicable to other cancers. In order to accumulate a sufficient number of 10B atoms on target cells, they first synthesized new 10B-avidin compounds. These compounds can be effectively targeted on human melanoma cells by biotinated monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) specific for the cells. The precise quantification of 10B atoms accumulated on a target cell has been successfully carried out Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)