A Critical Literature Assessment of the Production of Alpha Emitting Medical Radioisotopes

Abstract

The use of radionuclides for medical application has eased the treatment of complicated diseases especially cancerous diseases. This is due to their seamless application especially with the use of targeting molecules. Alpha particles have interesting properties of destroying the cancerous cells due to their short penetration and high linear energy transfer hence the use of the alpha emitting radionuclides allows for targeting specific cancerous cells and killing of the individual cells while minimizing the toxicity to the surrounding healthy cells. This has increased the need for the radionuclide and therefore, the need for more production of the radionuclide with high quality and quantity to meet the world need. Astatine (²¹¹At) and Bismuth (213Bi) are promising alpha emitting radionuclides for Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) for the destruction of cancerous cells. This prompted the review and assessment of their measured production cross-sections to ascertain the level of the update of the production cross-sections, the material used and the theoretical models used for the calculation and evaluation of the production cross-section with the aim to increase their production yield. ²¹¹At (T_1/2 = 7.2-hour) having the advantage of longer half-life is produced via accelerator while ²¹³Bi (T_1/2 = 46 min) with short half-life is produced by generator through the Actinium parent (²²⁵Ac/²¹³Bi). The experimental data from the nuclear data EXchange FORmat in the Nuclear Data section of the International Atomic Energy Agency were retrieved for the analysis. Most of the cross-section data were cumulative and they were measured long ago....