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Workshop on standards and measurements for alpha-emitting radionuclides in nuclear medicine

Cancer cells

Developing a metrological network to help implement targeted alpha therapy across European health institutes

The project

Targeted alpha therapy is a cancer treatment method utilising radioactive substances that undergo alpha decay. Alpha particles deposit a high energy within a short radius, ensuring that targeted alpha therapy can selectively target cancerous cells and minimise damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.

Within the Metrology Partnership project Metrology for emerging targeted alpha therapies (22HLT03, AlphaMet), a European consortium of metrology institutes and hospitals is working on creating the metrological network needed for safe administration of targeted alpha therapies to support the introduction of these therapies in health care institutes across Europe.

Project objectives include the development of primary and secondary radioactivity standards for alpha emitters and methods to improve the accuracy of activity and dosimetry calculations. In addition, a new bone site phantom made of tissue-like materials is being developed to ensure the accuracy of activity measurements in the red bone marrow, one of the main organs at risk. Finally, the accuracy of dosimetric calculations will be enhanced by multimodal imaging.

These advancements will help generate the metrological network needed for efficient and safe targeted administration of alpha therapies, improve comparability between multi-centre studies, and open up new routes for the treatment of cancer.

Successful international workshop

The European 22HLT03 AlphaMet project, funded by the European Partnership on Metrology held its first stakeholder workshop in collaboration with the BIPM CCRI RTQI Working Group. The International Workshop on Standards and Measurements for Alpha Emitting Nuclides in Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine was hosted by BIPM in February 2024. The comprehensive scientific programme was organised by Dr Ana Denis-Bacelar (NPL, AlphaMet impact WP leader), Dr Jan Rusnak (CMI, AlphaMet’s coordinator) and Dr Brian Zimmerman (NIST, RTQI WG chair).

A total of 444 participants from 67 countries worldwide registered to attend the workshop, with 60 in-person attendees and 235 people joining online, illustrating the recognised requirement to improve traceability in this field, and the need for the work of the AlphaMet project.

The workshop spanned two days of intensive discussions, bringing together global experts from the fields of radionuclide metrology, industry (such as pharmaceutical, radionuclide producers, scanner manufacturers), clinical nuclear medicine, medical physics, and radiochemistry, united in their commitment to advancing measurement standards and practices for alpha-emitting radionuclides and alpha therapies.

The agenda covered a wide range of topics critical to the field of targeted alpha therapy, and included discussions on:

metrology
current and future clinical applications
dosimetry-based treatment planning
quantitative imaging
radionuclide production and supply
radiopharmaceutical research and development
radiation safety

The insights gathered from the event will provide input for the development of guidance documents aimed at improving measurements for targeted alpha therapy applications.

The unprecedented levels of engagement in the workshop represent a pivotal moment in the advancement of measurement standards and traceability for targeted alpha therapies, highlighting the interest in collaborative efforts between the metrology community and stakeholders to improve the safety and efficacy of targeted alpha therapies.

Workshop presentations

Workshop participant and AlphaMet’s collaborator Ben Fongenie from Blue Earth Therapeutics said ‘It was a great pleasure to participate in the first AlphaMet workshop as a collaborator. The workshop showcased the many areas of fantastic progress being made in measurement and detection of alpha emitters, such as in the critical area of radiochemical purity testing, dosimetry and QC. These are incredibly important keystones and will make a huge difference to the work of bringing therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals into the clinic. We look forward to continuing contributing to this excellent consortium going forward’.

This Metrology Partnership project has received funding from the European Partnership on Metrology, co-financed by the European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and from the Participating States

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