Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is based on the ability of the non-radioactive isotope boron-10 to capture thermal neutrons with very high probability and immediately to release heavy particles with a path length of one cell diameter, which in principle allows for tumor cell-selective high-LET particle radiotherapy. This book provides a comprehensive summary of the progress made in NCT in recent years. Individual sections cover all important aspects, including neutron sources, boron chemistry, drugs for NCT, dosimetry, and radiation biology. The use of NCT in a variety of malignancies and also some non-malignant diseases is extensively discussed. NCT is clearly shown to be a promising modality at the threshold of wider clinical application. All of the chapters are written by experienced specialists in language that will be readily understood by all participating disciplines.

The European Collaboration on Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), conceived in 1987 and successful in 1989 in gaining financial support as a Concerted Action through the Medical and Health Research Programme of the Commission ofthe European Communities (CEC) in Brussels, considered it an opportune moment to hold its annual Plenary Meeting on 18-20 Septem ber 1991 as an International Workshop entitled "Towards Clinical Trials of Glioma with BNCT". The background to this consideration was influenced by the world-wide resurgence ofinterest in NCT over the last 2 decades and by the exemplifica tions at the Fourth International Symposium on Neutron Capture Therapy for Cancer held in Sydney in December 1990, where it was strongly indicated that within the next 2 years clinical trials would be started both in Europe and the United States. In particular at the High Flux Reactor of the Joint Research Centre of the CEC at Petten in The Netherlands, an epithermal neutron beam designed and installed in the summer of 1990 recently became operable at full reactor power. An extensive series ofexperiments, including the nuclear and radiobiological characterisation of the beam and a healthy tissue tolerance study on canines has started and has the aim to define the preconditions for clinical trials onpatients with Grade III/IV glioma. However, as with any other new therapy modality, it must be demon strated that BNCT is safe for the patient and has a reasonable chance of being an effective therapy.

At present, two native lamprey species occur in the Czech Republic, namely the brook lamprey and the Ukrainian lamprey. Lampreys: Evolution, Distribution and Use in Research begins by summarizing the available knowledge about the biology, ecology, distribution, monitoring of occurrence and action plans/recovery programmes for the aforementioned species. Following this, the occurrence of lampreys of the genus Lethenteron in 19 rivers and one lake in Sakhalin Island is documented, and sex differences in adults in respect to morphometric parameters are also presented. Mammalian blood clotting is presented as an extremely complex phenomenon involving more than two dozen proteins interacting in a series of limited proteolytic events partitioned into two calcium-dependent pathways. Some clotting proteins in mammals are present in only trace amounts, and proving their absence or presence in lampreys was not possible until the era of whole genome sequencing. As such, the authors retrace this development from a personal standpoint.