Peaceful atom
Rosatom is preparing to test the drug – the "killer" of metastases
Preclinical tests of a drug based on the radioactive isotope radium-223, used in oncology for the treatment of bone metastases, created by scientists of the Rosatom State Corporation, have been successful, and documents for clinical trials will be prepared in the near future, the press service of the Rosatom scientific division reported.
"The first stage of the investment project of the Khlopin Radium Institute for the creation of radiopharmaceuticals based on radium isotopes: radium-223, radium-224, radium-225/actinium-225 for targeted alpha-nuclide therapy of oncological diseases has been successfully completed. This advanced method of radionuclide therapy is based on the delivery of radioactive isotopes using special biological vectors directly to the tumor with minimal radiation exposure to healthy cells and tissues of the patient," the report says.
At the first stage of the project, scientists and engineers of the Radium Institute developed a technology for the production of radium-223 dichloride for the treatment of bone metastases in symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The created drug has passed preclinical tests on the basis of the Russian Scientific Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies named after Academician Granov and the National Medical Research Center of Oncology named after Flea Ministry of Health of Russia. As part of the tests, the overall safety and functional suitability of the drug were studied, a number of studies of its biological activity were conducted on various models of animal tumors.
"The test results showed the safety and high efficacy of the drug created by scientists, the kinetics of the targeted accumulation of radionuclide in bone tissues were noted, the optimal range of therapeutic effects was evaluated, the nature of the drug's effect on tumors of various stages of formation was revealed. In the near future, all research data will be used to compile a registration dossier for this drug to be submitted to the Ministry of Health of Russia in order to obtain permission to conduct clinical trials," the report says.
Currently, a qualitative leap in the treatment of a large number of oncological diseases is associated with the possibilities of targeted therapy using so-called alpha-emitting radionuclides, which include radium-223. By its chemical properties, radium is an analogue of calcium, so it accumulates in bone tissues – where metastases are most often formed in various forms of cancer. Therefore, radium-223 is often called the "killer" of metastases.
Radium-223 is considered a promising medical radionuclide also because it does not require binding to sufficiently complex biologically active molecules, but can be used as a simple inorganic compound – chloride Ra-223, which greatly simplifies the process of creating an alpha-emitting radiopharmaceutical.
The Khlopin Radium Institute (St. Petersburg) was established in 1922 to produce radium preparations. The Institute was the center where the national atomic science and technology originated and was being formed. Now the institute, which is part of the scientific division of Rosatom, conducts research mainly related to the problems of nuclear energy, radioecology and isotope production, and is one of the Russian and world leaders in these areas.
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