International Workshop on Standards and Measurements for Alpha Emitting Nuclides in Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine

Aim

This two-day workshop is intended to bring together practitioners from the radionuclide metrology, nuclear medicine, and medical physics communities to discuss issues and needs for accurate measurements and standards for alpha-emitting radionuclides being used or investigated for therapeutic nuclear medicine applications.

It is co-organized by the CCRI Radionuclide Therapy and Quantitative Imaging Working Group and the EURAMET AlphaMet project.

Participation from the radiopharmacies, isotope producers, and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers will also be a critical part of the workshop.

Information gathered from the Workshop will be used as input for a guidance document aimed at improving radioactivity measurement practice for current and anticipated applications in Targeted Alpha Therapy, both in the clinic and in the calibration laboratory. Specific needs and recommendations for the metrology community that are identified during the Workshop will be published separately as a CCRI document.

Outcome

The two-day hybrid workshop was attended by 60 in-person attendees and 235 people worldwide who participated online, making it the most significant CCRI event to date in terms of attendance. A total of 25 invited talks were presented in person by internationally recognized experts in widely diverse areas such as radiopharmaceutical development, isotope production, clinical nuclear medicine, and radionuclide metrology to develop a common understanding of each field’s capabilities and where specific measurement problems exist. Some important topics discussed were clinical applications of targeted alpha therapy (TAT), production and availability of alpha-emitting nuclides relevant to nuclear medicine, dosimetry protocols for TAT, the need for primary and secondary standards for radioactivity measurement, and measurement traceability.

A significant output of the workshop was the publication of a paper describing the workshop that includes a set of recommendations for ways in which the metrology community can address measurement needs expressed by their clinical counterparts.

Specific topics

• Current and future clinical applications in targeted alpha therapy (TAT)
• Measurement needs for the safe and effective implementation of dosimetry-based treatment planning and optimization for TAT
• An update from major manufacturers about products under development
• International metrology infrastructure for radioactivity measurement in nuclear medicine
• Challenges for image-based dosimetry (focus on SPECT and the role of theranostics)
• Radioactivity standards for alpha-emitting radionuclides
• Needs for new and improved decay data
• Specific measurement issues related to alpha emitters (multiple decay progreny, mixed decay modes, non-equilibrium , etc.)
• Radiation protection issues associated with TAT
• Dissemination of standards to end-users