NIDC News

Welcome Texas A&M
The DOE Isotope Program is excited to announce the addition of the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute to the University Isotope Network.
VSS recordings now available
The DOE Isotope Program hosted three virtual seminars focused on the following emerging medical isotopes: astatine-211, lead-203/212, and cerium-134.
Ir-192 Product Development Agreement image
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Isotope Program and QSA Global Inc. announced a joint product development agreement to initiate domestic production of iridium-192.

DOE Isotope Program Highlights

Image courtesy of Bobba, K.N., et al., Evaluation of cerium/lanthanum-134 as a PET imaging theranostic pair for 225Ac alpha radiotherapeutics. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 64, 7 (2023). Radiopharmaceuticals based on cerium/lanthanum-134 have promise for prostate cancer imaging and therapy. At right, tumors show high tumor uptake of cerium-134. At left, a comparison of cerium-134 and actinium-225 shows a similar pattern of uptake in most tissues (note the tumor tissue on the leg).

Transforming Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment with Cerium/Lanthanum-134

Researchers advance the use of cerium/lanthanum-134 for medical scans in actinium-225 cancer therapy.
Image courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory Depiction of a titanium-44/scandium-44 generator. The generator consists of a hydroxamate-based resin undergoing scandium-44 elution with hydrochloric acid.

Scientists Identify an Alternative System for Producing the Medical Isotope Scandium-44

An easy-to-use system can increase the availability of PET imaging agents to more patients.
This image depicts a binding molecule delivering radium-223 to a cancer cell. Image courtesy of Adam Malin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Capturing the Chemistry of Radium-223 for Cancer Treatment

Until now, there have been few efforts to get information on how radium binds with known chelators.
Image courtesy of Jonathan Engle, University of Wisconsin. Summary of the production process for radioisotopes of scandium using recyclable, enriched calcium.

Researchers Improve Production for Short-Lived Scandium Radioisotopes

Hard to produce in quantities and purities appropriate for human use, scandium radioisotopes have potential for imaging cancer.