The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has highlighted its worldwide activities to meet increasing demands for alpha-emitting radionuclides for use in targeted alpha therapy (TAT), according to a recent report.
“The major stumbling block in the clinical translation of TAT remains the development of a sturdy supply chain of these radionuclides that will match the clinical demand,” IAEA scientists wrote in an article published March 11 in Nuclear Medicine and Biology.
While beta-emitting treatments have reached market, in prostate cancer, for instance, newer treatments that use alpha-emitters such as actinium-225 are in development worldwide. Alpha emitters are stronger and larger, which means that they don’t penetrate as deeply into surrounding tissues, and thus may reduce the potential for radiation side effects.
Ultimately, current infrastructure limitations in its member states and complex radiolabelling methods dictate that astatine-211, actinium-225, and lead-212 must be viewed as the top three radionuclides with a clear translational pathway to widespread application in TAT, the IAEA group wrote.
The IAEA is involved in boosting supplies of these radionuclides in 27 countries, primarily through technical meetings, workshops, publications, and its Coordinated Research Projects initiative and its Technical Cooperation Program, the group noted.
“The IAEA will continue to support the member states in the distribution of knowledge and techniques on the production and proper quality control and application of alpha emitter radiopharmaceuticals around the world,” the authors concluded.
The full article is available here.