Abstract
Ra-223 has recently been introduced to alpha radionuclide therapy. According to the decay scheme of Ra-223, an inert gas, Rn-219 is released from patients during alpha radionuclide therapy and its daughter radionuclides may accumulate around the patient. However, the concentration of these radon daughters during alpha radionuclide therapy was not obvious. Here, we first detected the radon daughters of Rn-219 around patients during alpha radionuclide therapy. While the Ra-223-administered patients were in a room for ~1.5 hours, the radon daughter concentration increased to 4 to 5 times higher than without the patients. When the patients were in the room, the energy spectra of the alpha particles in the air showed the peak of the radon daughter of Rn-219, Bi-211 (6.6 MeV), which was different from that without the patients. We conclude that the daughter radionuclides of Rn-219 are accumulated around the patient, and the concentration was higher than that of the natural radon daughters. However, the increase in levels of alpha emitters, while detectable, is lower than the daily variations and thus is likely not a source of concern for radiation exposure.
Highlights
Alpha-emitting radionuclides have been clinically used for radionuclide therapy
In the energy spectra with the patients shown in Fig. 4(B), we did not observe a significant increase in the energy range for Po-215 (7.4 MeV)
We found that alpha particles of the daughter radionuclides from Ra-223-administered patients were detectable
Summary
Alpha-emitting radionuclides have been clinically used for radionuclide therapy. Since alpha particles have an advantage over beta particles in their short range and high linear energy transfer (LET), effective treatment is expected in radionuclide therapy[1,2]. By the respiration of the patients, some of the Rn-219 in the body may escape from the patients and its daughter radionuclides, Pb-211 and Bi-211, may accumulate around the patients These daughter radionuclides of Rn-219 emit alpha particles, which may cause internal exposure of medical staff in the hospital or family of the patients. We measured the concentration changes of Rn-222 and daughter radionuclides of Rn-219 and Rn-222 when Ra-223 radionuclide therapy patients were and were not in a room Another method is the use of the energy information of the alpha emitters. We compared the energy spectra of alpha emitters from daughter radionuclides of Rn-219 and Rn-222 when Ra-223 radionuclide therapy patients were and were not in a room
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