Treatment of Metastatic Bone Disease and the Emerging Role of Radium-223

Bone metastases are common in advanced malignancy and, despite the developments in both anticancer and bone-targeted therapies in recent years, new therapeutic strategies are still needed. Traditionally, radioisotopes have been rarely used in part owing to concerns about bone marrow toxicity that limits retreatment and may prevent safe administration of subsequent chemotherapy. Radium-223 dichloride (Ra-223) is a calcium mimetic that binds preferentially to newly formed bone in areas of bone metastases, is the first alpha-emitting radionuclide to be developed for clinical use, and is approved for treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer and symptomatic bone metastases.
Source: Seminars in Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Authors: Source Type: research