BNCT consists of two separate components, a boron-10 target drug and a neutron beam source.
First, the boron-10 target drug, administered by intravenous injection, selectively accumulates in tumor cells. Next, the patient is irradiated with a therapeutic neutron beam of appropriate energy, creating nuclear capture and fission reactions that destroy targeted tumor cells with minimal effect on the surrounding normal cells. BNCT is therefore a modern cellular-level targeted radiotherapy.