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Alpha vs beta emitters

Beta particles (lutetium-177) travel millimetres and are good for bulky disease; alpha particles (actinium-225) travel a few cells' width and kill with far higher energy.

Beta: low LET, 1-10 mm range, crossfire helps heterogeneous tumours, marrow toxicity. Alpha: high LET (~100 keV/µm), 50-100 µm range, oxygen-independent double-strand breaks, effective on micrometastases, daughter recoil redistribution. Supply of 225Ac is the bottleneck.

Radiopharma: what this kind of term is about · animated schematic, not to scale
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Radiopharma

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