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Radiometals are metallic radionuclides, radioactive isotopes of metallic elements, used in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for imaging or therapy.

Unlike Fluorine-18 ([¹⁸F]), the well-established for PET imaging, which is covalently bonded directly into small organic molecules and enters metabolic pathways, radiometals cannot simply be incorporated into a molecule through organic chemistry.

They require a chelator, a bifunctional molecule that has two functional ends: one that tightly binds the radiometal, and one that can be conjugated to a targeting vector (a peptide, antibody, nanobody, or another molecule).

The chelator acts as a molecular harness. It keeps the radiometal attached to the targeting vector throughout the journey to target.

Getting the chelation chemistry right is as important as choosing the right radiometal. Instability leads to off-target uptake in organs, increased toxicity, and reduced diagnostic or therapeutic efficacy.

An alpha particle is a helium nucleus — two protons and two neutrons, tightly bound together. Compared with other forms of ionizing radiation, it is relatively massive and carries a double positive charge.

That combination of mass and charge makes alpha particles interact very intensely with the matter they travel through. They lose energy rapidly, which is why their range in tissue is so short. And as they lose that energy, they deposit it in a very dense track of ionization events along an extremely short path.

The result is an extraordinarily high Linear Energy Transfer (LET), the amount of energy deposited per unit of distance travelled.

Alpha particles have a LET hundreds of times higher than that of beta-emitting radionuclides such as Lutetium-177.

In practice, that means alpha particles cause DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), the most difficult form of DNA damage a cell can sustain. Unlike single-strand breaks, which the cell's repair machinery can often fix, double-strand breaks are very difficult to repair correctly. The cells typically cannot survive them.
 

Targeted Radionuclide Therapy, Radiotheranostics and Targeted Alpha Therapy, 3 terms that are constantly confused, even by people inside the field, but they have different meanings.

For decades, medicine looked at the anatomy of the human body, observed at a single moment in time. Traditional imaging techniques, like X-rays, captured static images, revealing shapes and structures. It showed visible abnormalities but did not explain the underlying causes.
 

Nuclear medicine is something different than common medicine. You cannot touch it. Instead of looking at anatomy, nuclear medicine follows the clues inside the body, tracking biological processes. This molecular pursuit provides real-time insights into the behavior of organs, tissues, and cells.

Prof Dr Renata Mikolajczak, PhD - Research and Cooperation Manager, Radioisotope Center POLATOM National Center for Nuclear Research, Poland.

With over 30 years in radioisotope and radiopharmaceutical development, Prof Dr Renata Mikolajczak is coordinating the research activity of the Radioisotope Centre POLATOM, National Centre for Nuclear Research in Poland.

She is a Professor of medical sciences and holds a Ph.D. in physics and a DSc in medical biology.

Since 2020, she has served as the chair of the expert group, PRP Working Party - Precursors for Radiopharmaceutical Preparations,  European Pharmacopoeia of EDQM

She is a IAEA expert and lecturer in Radiopharmacy and member of the IAEA’s Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications (SAGNA).