Actinium-225
Accelerating targeted alpha therapy
Actinium-225
Actinium-225 (Ac-225) is an isotope of actinium, with a half-life of approximately 10 days. It is used in nuclear medicine for the treatment of cancer. Ac-225 and its decay products emit alpha particles. Ac-225 has a high cytotoxic potency within a very short range, enabling it to destroy cancerous cells in the body while sparing surrounding healthy tissues. This makes it the “isotope of choice” for Targeted Alpha Therapy.
Targeted Alpha Therapy
Cancer treatments have evolved significantly in recent years, and the focus of current clinical research studies is on developing more targeted therapies. Today, targeted radiotherapies solely make use of so-called beta isotopes (such as Lutetium-177). However, novel and breakthrough clinical research has proven that targeted therapies that use alpha isotopes are much more effective when it comes to actually destroying the cancer cell. We speak of Targeted Alpha Therapy (or TAT) when an alpha isotope, such as Ac-225, is labelled to a targeting molecule.
By providing the radiopharmaceutical industry with Ac-225, AlfaRim will facilitate the breakthrough and further development of targeted alpha therapies. As a new mainstream treatment, actinium-based targeted alpha therapy will provide a groundbreaking treatment for numerous cancer types.
Alpha therapies can be used to combat the following types of cancer:
Breaking up the DNA
Alpha isotopes are the most effective at causing double-strand breaks in DNA molecules. This is essential, because the best way to destroy a malignant tumour is to completely eliminate each cell that makes up the cancer by disrupting and breaking up its DNA.
