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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.
This is about alpha particles versus beta particles in radioligand therapy, not the alpha/beta ratio of the linear-quadratic model used in external-beam fractionation. Beta and alpha emitters are the two kinds of particle used in radioligand therapy. Beta particles from lutetium-177 have low linear energy transfer and a range of 1 to 10 mm, so their crossfire helps in heterogeneous bulky tumours at the cost of marrow toxicity. Alpha particles from actinium-225 have very high linear energy transfer, around 100 keV per micrometre, travel only 50 to 100 micrometres and cause oxygen-independent DNA breaks, though daughter recoil redistributes dose and actinium-225 supply is the bottleneck. The distinction underlies the Radioligand therapy (beta emitters) and Targeted alpha therapy technologies and the pairing Beta radioligand to alpha radioligand, and it is referenced by Radium-223 dichloride and the Neuroendocrine tumours entry.
Showing the technology this term belongs to: Radioligand therapy (beta emitters).
Shares Regional cyclotron hubs for actinium-225 with an agreed actinium-227 impurity limit, Half-life, Alpha-emitter nanogenerators and daughter trapping, Auger-electron therapy.
Shares Alpha/beta ratio, Relative biological effectiveness (RBE), Linear energy transfer (LET).
Shares Alpha-emitting PSMA therapy at first metastatic diagnosis, Beta radioligand → alpha radioligand, Targeted alpha therapy, Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines.
Shares Beta PRRT → alpha PRRT, Targeted alpha therapy, Neuroendocrine tumours.
Shares Fund alpha emitters beyond actinium-225: lead-212, terbium-149 and astatine-211, Targeted alpha therapy, Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines, Neuroendocrine tumours.
Shares Alpha-emitter nanogenerators and daughter trapping, Targeted alpha therapy, Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines.
Shares Beta PRRT → alpha PRRT, Targeted alpha therapy, Neuroendocrine tumours.
Shares Alpha/beta ratio, Relative biological effectiveness (RBE), Linear energy transfer (LET).