New Radioisotope May Enhance Cancer Therapy!

This article focuses on the radiopharmaceutical ¹⁶¹Tb, an isotope of terbium. The Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) has recently produced samples of ¹⁶¹Tb that could potentially help diagnose and treat cancer.

Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive isotopes which are attached to a bioconjugate that is selectively delived to cancer cells.

Current radiopharmaceuticals such as ¹⁷⁷Lu (an isotope of lutetium) are already very successful in fighting certain types of cancer, but those isotopes are not ideal for all therapeutic uses. They could cause added damage to healthy tissue or require patient isolation during treatment.

¹⁶¹Tb is similar to ¹⁷⁷Lu, but it emits more low energy electrons. This means it would be more efficient for treating smaller tumors. ¹⁷⁷Lu is already in use in several countries that include Australia and Brazil.

¹⁶¹Tb also has advantageous decay properties for usage in cancer treatment. For example, it has a half life of 6.9 days, long enough to transport to hospitals but short enough not to pose any long term issues of waste handling after excretion.

¹⁶¹Tb seems to have a lot of potential. If financial backing is found it may be able to be routinely produced by 2013.

Article Link: New Radioisotope Will Improve Cancer Therapy

-Em Fu The Science Guru