Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals

What are Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals?

Some radiopharmaceuticals are used in larger amounts to treat certain kinds of cancer and other diseases. In those cases, the radioactive agent is taken up in the cancerous area and destroys the affected tissue.

The approved radiopharmaceuticals used for disease diagnosis can be divided into seven main fields: tumour imaging (46.3%), central nervous system (CNS) imaging (20.4%), cardiovascular imaging (14.8%), renal imaging (7.4%), lung imaging (3.7%), liver imaging (3.7%), and bone imaging (3.7%).

Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) involves the targeted delivery of radiation to tumor cells or to the tumor microenvironment. This treatment approach is distinguished from external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy in that the radiation is delivered by unencapsulated radionuclides.

Used to diagnose and treat various diseases associated with the human thyroid. Used to reduce the pain associated with bony metastases of primary tumours. Currently in clinical trials. Used to treat a variety of cancers, including neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer.

Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. At low doses, radiation is used in x-rays to see inside your body, as with x-rays of your teeth or broken bones.

The application of radiopharmaceuticals as diagnostic tools and therapeutic drugs has attracted researchers to develop novel radioligands for interrogating and understanding pathogenesis and for monitoring/staging/evaluating disease progression and outcomes of classical therapy and/or radiotherapy.