Intravenous administration of Actinium-225 radiopharmaceuticals has emerged as a ground-breaking therapeutic approach in nuclear medicine for treating late-stage prostate cancer.
This innovative treatment combines targeted radiotherapy with specific cancer cell binding mechanisms, offering hope for patients who have exhausted conventional treatment options. The therapy is already being successfully implemented across many German clinics, where advanced medical facilities ensure precise administration and monitoring. Let’s explore when this treatment is used and how it works.
What is Actinium-225 and How Does It Control Cancer
The treatment uses a radiopharmaceutical containing ligands and the Actinium-225 isotope, combined through chelation. The ligands ensure therapy targeting by binding the radiopharmaceutical to PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen). This protein is found in cancer cells; it exists in much smaller quantities in normal prostate tissue and is virtually absent in all other organs and tissues. By binding to PSMA, the Actinium-225 radionuclide destroys cancer cells through radiation.
Germany has established emission-free production of Actinium-225 for oncology applications. You can travel to this country for advanced prostate cancer treatment. The success of radioisotope development largely depends on radiolabeling conditions, radionuclide source purity, chelator type, and the quenchers used to prevent radiolysis. Actinium-225 decay half-life is 10 days, which is one-third longer than Lutetium-177, also used in prostate cancer treatment.
Who Is Suitable for This Treatment Method
Actinium-225 is a systemic radiotherapy agent: it affects not just a single tumor, but all tumors in the body, including visceral metastases.
Actinium-225 radiotherapy is prescribed when the following circumstances combine:
- Late-stage prostate cancer with metastases.
- Metastases are predominantly in organs, not just in bones (otherwise, Radium-223 therapy will be conducted).
- The cancer is castration-resistant (hormonal therapy no longer controls tumor growth, and PSA blood levels are increasing).
- Other treatment methods have been tried and aren’t working or are contraindicated: chemotherapy and possibly targeted therapy.
- Lutetium-177 radiotherapy either didn’t work or stopped working over time. This radionuclide is better studied, so it’s used first.
Thus, Actinium-225 is prescribed as a last resort when no other methods can control the disease. Even under these conditions, it shows promising results. Many patients who don’t respond to Lutetium-177 therapy achieve biochemical and/or objective response with Actinium-225 therapy, improving quality and duration of life by reducing tumor burden, shrinking tumors, and stopping their further growth.
How Treatment Proceeds
Treatment is conducted in a hospital setting. The medical preparation is administered intravenously. The patient then spends several days in the hospital until most of the radioactive substance is eliminated from the body.
With good therapeutic results, Actinium-225 therapy is well-tolerated and has low toxicity compared to chemotherapy. The most common side effect is dry mouth. The frequency of this complication is higher than with Lutetium-177. However, Actinium-225 administration has a significantly lower risk of complications affecting the blood-forming system because the alpha radiation produced by this radionuclide’s decay is very short-range and barely penetrates into bones where bone marrow is located.
Actinium-225 treatment can be repeated. If necessary, treatment cycles can be conducted every 6-8 weeks. The procedure can be repeated as long as it remains effective and the patient doesn’t develop severe complications.
If you want to access all advanced technologies for treating late-stage cancer, you can contact one of the German clinics. Visit the Booking Health website. It features leading German medical centers. On the site, you can learn about prices, choose a clinic, schedule convenient dates, and also receive consultation from medical tourism specialists and assistance in organizing your trip abroad.