Researchers from the Krasnoyarsk Science Center Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed fly ash microspheres that can be used in radiation therapy for liver cancer. The work of scientists dedicated to improvement is published in the Journal of the Siberian Federal University and Materials.
Currently, it is becoming increasingly popular to deliver radiation-emitting nuclides by introducing drug-containing microspheres into tumor-supplying vessels. However, the currently used yttrium-90-based microspheres have a high cost.
Krasnoyarsk scientists obtained aluminosilicate microspheres with the isotope lutetium-176 from coal-burning fly ash. Their low toxicity and price make them possible to use in biochemistry and medicine. These materials can be used as a precursor to a source of microbeta radiation for brachytherapy, the treatment of liver cancer by radioactive irradiation.
To incorporate lutetium-176 into the material, the researchers proposed an original technique in which it is concentrated via ion exchange and then delivered into microspheres under the influence of temperature. Second, it becomes radioactive after irradiation in a nuclear reactor just before radiotherapy.
To assess the toxicity of the material, during a series of experiments, experts determined the leaching rate of lutetium in a sodium chloride solution that simulates the composition of blood. The release rate of lutetium from the microspheres was low, indicating that the resulting materials are safe for use in medicine.
One of the researchers, a researcher at the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy, explains that the isotope is located in the deep layers of the crust of the microspheres and, accordingly, has no direct contact with living tissues. Sciences Ekaterina Kutikhina.
Source: Ferra
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