DNA damage by Auger emitters

The Auger decay, characterized by a cascade of short ranged electrons, leads to an intense local deposition of energy around the emitter. In therapeutic applications this can be exploited to cause localized molecular damage to the DNA of malignant cells, so called ''molecular surgery''. In nuclear medicine, where the Auger decay is incidental to the other properties of the radiopharmaceutical, it raises the question of how to determine doses so that they truly reflect the biological risk. Auger emitters also find application in basic biology, radiobiology and the biomolecular sciences, where their highly localized effects can be exploited to probe fundamental mechanisms. These papers reflect the breadth of application today of Auger emitters in these areas. (author)