1) Radionuclide therapy
Targeted alpha therapy using astatine for thyroid cancer treatment (NaAt)

Astatine (At-211) is a nuclide which emits short-range radiation called alpha rays. It is manufactured using an accelerator. A cyclotron, which is capable of producing astatine, is installed in the Research Center for Nuclear Physics at Suita Campus, Osaka University.
Our team has succeeded in manufacturing a new therapeutic agent for thyroid cancer (sodium astatinate ([At-211] NaAt)). ¹⁾
When NaAt was administered intravenously to a mouse model of differentiated thyroid cancer, the drug was specifically accumulated in the tumor, and the tumor size was clearly reduced. ¹⁾
It will be a breakthrough treatment for metastatic thyroid cancer in which conventional β-ray therapy (I-131) does not work, and we are now preparing for a doctor-initiated clinical trial at Osaka University Hospital.

1) Watabe T, et al. J Nucl Med. 2019