The role of the 14N(n,p)14C reaction in neutron irradiation of soft tissues

The cell-killing potential of the ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C reaction was considered with regard to neutron absorption in human nuclear DNA and respiratory phosphates for: (A) 10¹² thermal neutrons in 1 kg of soft tissue, (B) a mono-energetic beam of 2 MeV neutrons incident in 1 kg of soft tissue such that the total collision kerma was 10 J/kg, and (C) an evenly distributed 0–66 MeV neutron beam, also incident in 1 kg such that the total collision kerma was 20 J/kg. For case (A) 0.0017 ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C reactions could be expected per DNA double strand, case (B) 0.053, and case (C) 0.0039. The probabilities that a proton emitted outside the nucleus would cross nuclear DNA were estimated from ¹⁴N tissue content for adult skeletal muscle, liver, and kidney tissues, for (1) nuclear DNA being concentrated in a sphere of 1.8 μm diameter, and (2) nuclear DNA being evenly distributed in a spherical nucleus 5 μm in diameter. It was concluded that even in a nitrogen-rich tissue exposed to a collision kerma of 20 J/kg by a 0–66 MeV fast neutron beam, the ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C reaction directly kills at most 10 cells in every 1000, 4 of these by DNA nitrogen absorption and 6 by the ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C protons emitted elsewhere in the cell. However, the dose due to the ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C reaction should be measured where exposure to thermal neutron fluxes is significant. For therapeutic neutron doses the number of respiratory phosphate molecules in which the ¹⁴N(n,p)¹⁴C reaction occurs is insignificant, and doses from ¹⁴C-decay after neutron therapy are also negligible.