Targeted alpha therapy can destroy cancerous cells without harming healthy cells. It's especially useful for treating metastasized cancers. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science's Isotope Program is developing and marketing novel radioactive isotopes for targeted alpha therapy.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The separation of radium and actinium is a major component in the production, distribution, and purity of targeted alpha therapy isotopes. This image shows the separation profiles of radium (purple) and actinium (green) across a zirconia resin. Credit: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 59, 20472-20477 (2020). [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c04084] One method of making one isotope, actinium-225, involves bombarding radium targets with neutrons. This method poses a challenge: how to chemically separate the radium from the actinium. This can destroy typical separation equipment due to a radioactive process called alpha decay. Now, researchers have investigated the use of radiation-resistant inorganic resin scaffolds as platforms for separating radium, actinium, and lead. Demand and production of actinium-225 (Ac-225) and other alpha-emitting radioisotopes are increasing. These new…