Short-range emitters

Interestingly the smaller tumours such as the leukemias can be more effectively treated with the short-range emitters like Au. 

The usual decay process of heavy nuclei is a-particle emission. An a particle is a helium ion containing two protons and two neutrons. Alpha particles are heavy particles that have a very short range in matter due to their mass, and radiopharmaceuticals labeled with a emitters are used only with therapeutic purposes. Their clinical use is very limited, and they are mainly used for research purposes or in early phase clinical studies. 

Emitted by heavy atoms, such as uranium, radium, radon, and plutonium (to name a few), alpha particles are helium nuclei, making them the most massive kind of radiation. Alpha radiation can cause a great deal of damage to the living cells it encounters, but has such a short range in tissue (only a few microns) that external alpha radiation cannot penetrate the dead cells of the epidermis to irradiate the living cells beneath. If inhaled, swallowed, or introduced into open wounds, however, alpha radiation can be very damaging. In nature, alpha radiation is found in rocks and soils as part of the minerals, in air as radon gas, and dissolved in water as radium, uranium, or radon. Alpha emitters are also found in nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, some luminous paints (radium may be used for this), smoke detectors, and some consumer products. Objects and patients exposed to alpha radiation may become contaminated, but they do not become radioactive. 

Copper-67 is perhaps the most attractive alternative to l as a short-range P emitter. Because of its 2.6-day half-life, it can be considered for use with a variety of molecular carriers including mAbs and peptides. An advantage of Cu is that it emits several y rays with energies ranging... 

ALPHA PARTICLE. An electrically charged particle of ionizing radiation emitted by radioactive materials. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium-4 atom, consisting of two protons and two neutrons and acting as a single particle. When an alpha particle is emitted from an unstable radioactive nucleus of an atom, that atom is transmuted into a different element. For instance, plutonium-238 is a well-known alpha emitter when an alpha particle escapes, plutonium-238 is transmuted into uranium-234. Alpha particles have a short range and cannot penetrate the outer, dead layer of human skin. Therefore, external sources of alpha particles pose little threat to human health. However, if radioactive materials emitting alpha particles are... 

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