Radionuclides used in nuclear medicine therapy - from production to dosimetry

Nuclear Medicine provides efficient tools for cancer therapy using compounds labelled with radionuclides that emit beta-particles, alpha-particles or Auger electrons. With their short path lengths, they destroy mainly targeted cancer cells with limited side effects. Ideal application for targeted radionuclide therapy demands radionuclides' physical, radiobiological and radiochemical properties to be well known. These radionuclides are produced with the desirable characteristics for their application in Nuclear Medicine radiopharmaceutical therapy. Furthermore, measurements of absorbed dose to the abnormal and to the normal tissue, in a patient-specific point of view, enhance therapy effectiveness. Dosimetry is a valuable tool for the decision of a successful treatment that will give impressive anti-tumour results and favourable tumour-to-normal tissue ratios. This article will be a review of the contributions both in the production of the radionuclides - dedicated to radiopharmaceutical therapy - as well as in the individualized dosimetric methods referred in the literature for each radionuclide used in Nuclear Medicine therapy. Many dose-calculation methods and mathematical codes used will be referred in detail. © 2013 Bentham Science Publishers.