Presidential Address

It was my honor to be elected as president of the Taiwan Society of Neutron Capture Therapy (TSNCT), a position formerly held by Prof. Sang-Hue Yen, at the Society’s annual meeting held in January 2019. Our society was established in January 2015. Compared with other domestic medical association related to oncology, we are a younger and more diversified group. The background of our members includes clinical oncology, nuclear physics and engineering, radiobiology, and medicinal chemistry etc. It implies that BNCT derives from the integration of multi-disciplinary science and technology.

Tracing the history of BNCT development in Taiwan, we found it originated from basic research done at Tsing-Hua Open Pool Reactor(THOR) at the National Tsing-Hua University(NTHU). Pioneers designed neutron beam and developed a treatment planning system (TPS) for clinical applications. In 2004, the construction of the BNCT treatment facility was completed. Later, the beam quality was measured and these data were imported into the TPS. Taipei Veterans General Hospital has a long-term research cooperation with NTHU. As a radiation oncologist, I designed the first clinical trial protocol for recurrent head and neck cancer in our country in 2009. Up to now, we completed BNCT in 26 patients in clinical trials setting and 50 cases in compassionate therapy scenario (including pediatric patients). Their diagnosis extended from H & N to malignant brain tumors.

In the future, we expected new people will join us for actual treatment of and basic research in BNCT in Taiwan. We will continue organizing educational and scientific lectures and initiating international exchange. Our goal is BNCT will become a regular treatment for cancer patients in Taiwan. We welcome your participation in this endeavor and let us move on together.

Dr. Ling-Wei Wang

President of Taiwan Society of Neutron Capture Therapy

Dr. Ling-Wei Wang

President of Taiwan Society of Neutron Capture Therapy