PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN: REACTOR ISOTOPES OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS FOR THERAPY

Abstract

Radioactive isotopes of rare earth elements have effective nuclear-physical properties and are promising for the development of new therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Rare earth elements (REE) include 17 elements of the secondary subgroup of group III of the periodic table of chemical elements of D.I. Mendeleev with atomic numbers 21, 39, 57, 58–71: scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and 14 lanthanides. Some radioactive isotopes of these elements are already used in medicine, as a radioactive component of approved medicines, for example, the isotopes of 153Sm and 177Lu, and for some the possibility of their use in medicine is only being studied. Thus, the isotope scandium – 47Sc is being studied as a potential radioisotope for cancer diagnosis, holmium – 166Ho as an isotope for radiosynovectomy and brachytherapy, praseodymium – 142Pr is promising for brachytherapy. The ability of rare earth elements to form chemical bonds with organic molecules, including peptides of natural and synthetic origin, is the basis for the development of new drugs for targeted therapy of breast and prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, disseminated lung cancer and other types of diseases. To determine the list of the most promising for irradiation at the rector of the WWR-K REE in order to develop radioactive isotopes, an assessment of the ways of developing radioactive isotopes and an analysis of their nuclear physical characteristics according to literature data was carried out. Isotopes such as: 166Ho, 165Dy, 90Y, 175Yb, 153Sm, 177Lu, 147Nd, 170Tm, 159Gd and 141Ce can be used in the treatment of oncological diseases. This research work makes it possible to evaluate the possibility of obtaining REE radioisotopes by reaction (n, γ) at the WWR-K reactor, and reflects the prospects for using these isotopes in the development of new-generation radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of oncological diseases.