Iodine-125 cytotoxicity: Implications for therapy and estimation of radiation risk

Abstract

The consequences of differential subcellular radionuclide accumulation, particularly within nuclear structures, have important implications for the design and development of radiopharmaceuticals for therapy as well as for the estimation of radiation risks. There is a growing body of experimental data demonstrating that localization of 125I within nuclear structures results in marked cytotoxicity. This report reviews the physical and biological consequences of 125I decay when 125I is incorporated into cells as iododeoxyuridine or iodotamoxifen.