Systems and methods including a material that emits high energy beta particles to destroy cancer cells contained in cancerous tumor or tissue. Electronic neutron generators produce neutrons with energies that have a high probability to interact with the material yttrium-89 to produce yttrium-90. Yttrium-90 emits beta radiation with a maximum energy of about 2.25 MeV and a half-life of about 64 hours, which decays to stable zirconium. Stable yttrium-89 can be directly placed in or around cancerous tissue and irradiated with neutrons in the 0.1-15 KeV energy range to produce significant amounts of yttrium-90. The beta radiation emitted by yttrium-90 will primarily destroy the more radiation sensitive cancer cells within the range of the beta particles. The resulting zirconium isotope is not radioactive such that no further radiation is released. A low probability gamma is also created that will assist in cancer cell destruction.
