IN-VIVO DETECTION OF A BORON-NEUTRON-CAPTURE AGENT IN MELANOMA BY PROTON OBSERVED H-1 B-10 DOUBLE-RESONANCE

The Cesium salt of BSSB (Cs4B24H22S2), a common boron-neutron-capture-therapy (BNCT) agent, was injected into M2R mouse melanoma xenografts, and detected in vivo by H-1-observed, B-10-edited NMR spectroscopy. The technique of spin-echo difference spectroscopy, in which a proton spin-echo is detected following the alternating presence and absence of a B-10 180 degrees pulse was used. This method provides much higher sensitivity than direct B-10 NMR detection, and should thus be suitable for in vivo detection in patients about to undergo BNCT treatment, where the infused agents are 95% isotopically enriched in B-10.