Accelerating the development of new alpha therapies for cancer treatment

Recent results from targeted alpha therapy show that this type of cancer treatment is exceptionally potent for treatment of cancer types which are either in micro-metastases or as small tumours. By incorporating the highly-destructive alpha-radiation to bio-chemicals that specifically target and attach themselves to cancerous cells, the alpha-radiation is deposited specifically in and around the cancerous cell. The race is therefore on to produce alpha-emitters in sufficient quantities and to attach these to the most efficient targeting bio-chemicals. The present partnership between York and the Life Sciences Division at TRIUMF, Canada, combines the necessary expertise to make a step-change in the technologies available for optimisation and quality control of the development of new alpha treatments, thereby accelerating this development.