Therapy using radiopharmaceuticals: prospects and status

Radionuclide therapy with artificially produced radionuclides started in 1936 with the administration of the cyclotron produced 32P as orthophosphate for the treatment of leukemia by J.H. Lawrence. Thanks to the availability of nuclear reactors for peaceful applications post World War II, the treatment of thyroid cancer using Na131I was introduced in the late forties thereby beginning the successful use of radionuclides for targeted therapy. Though radionuclide therapy is only a small fraction of the current nuclear medicine practice, it is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades. This paper discusses the prospects and status of therapy using radiopharmaceuticals