Alpha particle emitters in medicine

Conference · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:6474792

Fisher, D R

Radiation-induced cancer of bone, liver and lung has been a prominent harmful side-effect of medical applications of alpha emitters. In recent years, however, the potential use of antibodies labeled with alpha emitting radionuclides against cancer has seemed promising because alpha particles are highly effective in cell killing. High dose rates at high LET, effectiveness under hypoxic conditions, and minimal expectancy of repair are additional advantages of alpha emitters over antibodies labeled with beta emitting radionuclides for cancer therapy. Cyclotron-produced astatine-211 ({sup 211}At) and natural bismuth-212 ({sup 212}Bi) have been proposed and are under extensive study in the United States and Europe. Radium-223 ({sup 223}Ra) also has favorable properties as a potential alpha emitting label, including a short-lived daughter chain with four alpha emissions. The radiation dosimetry of internal alpha emitters is complex due to nonuniformly distributed sources, short particle tracks, and high relative specific ionization. The variations in dose at the cellular level may be extreme. Alpha-particle radiation dosimetry, therefore, must involve analysis of statistical energy deposition probabilities for cellular level targets. It must also account fully for nonuniform distributions of sources in tissues, source-target geometries, and particle-track physics. 18 refs., 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6474792
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-17390; CONF-8909220--2; ON: DE91004761
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550604 -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Therapy-- (1980-)
560151 -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
655003* -- Medical Physics-- Dosimetry
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ALPHA DOSIMETRY
ALPHA SOURCES
ASTATINE 211
ASTATINE ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BISMUTH 212
BISMUTH ISOTOPES
BODY
CARBON 14 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISEASES
DOSIMETRY
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY ION DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
HEAVY NUCLEI
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
IMMUNOLOGY
ION SOURCES
ISOTOPES
MEDICINE
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PARTICLE SOURCES
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIOIMMUNOLOGY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM 223
RADIUM ISOTOPES
TISSUES