Is it possible to harness the power of radioactive particles for cancer treatment, without affecting the wellbeing of your healthy organs and tissues? According to University of Missouri researchers, not only is it possible to direct alpha particles toward small cancer tumours while doing negligible damage to healthy organs and tissues – they’ve done it!
When your doctor recommends radiation treatment for your cancer, he or she will choose from several radiopharmaceuticals that use low-energy radiation particles, known as beta particles. However, in recent years wellness experts have been looking into the use of alpha particles, albeit facing several complications. According to J. David Robertson, director of research at the MU Research Reactor and professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, ‘Scientists have had some successes using alpha particles recently, but nothing that can battle different cancers.’
He elucidated, ‘For example, a current study using radium-223 chloride, which emits alpha particles, has been fast-tracked by the US Food and Drug Administration because it has been shown to be effective in treating bone cancer. However, it only works for bone cancer because the element, radium, is attracted to the bone and stays there. We believe we have found a solution that will allow us to target alpha particles to other cancer sites in the body in an effective manner.’
Previously, researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the School of Medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville used the element actinium, which is an alpha emitter. However, these particles were too strong to be kept in place at cancer sites, until Robertson and Mark McLaughlin, MU doctoral student and co-author on the study, designed a gold-plated nanoparticle that serves as a holding cell for the elements, long enough for any alpha particles to destroy nearby cancer cells.
Robertson explained the results of the study, which was published in PLOS ONE. In a release, he commented, ‘Holding these alpha emitters in place is a technical challenge that researchers have been trying to overcome for 15 years. With our nanoparticle design, we are able to keep more than 80% of the element inside the nanoparticle 24 hours after it is created.’