Roy Copping

The development of targeted alpha therapy (TAT) as a viable cancer treatment requires innovative solutions to challenges associated with radionuclide retention to enhance local tumor cytotoxicity and to minimize off-target effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) with high encapsulation and high retention of radionuclides have shown potential in overcoming these issues. This article shows the influence of pH on the structure of lanthanum vanadate (LaVO₄) NPs and its impact on the radiochemical yield of ²²³Ra and subsequent retention of its decay daughters, ²¹¹Pb and ²¹¹Bi. An acidic pH (4.9) results in a high fraction of La(²²³Ra)VO₄ NPs with tetragonal structure (44.6–66.1%) and a ²²³Ra radiochemical yield 80% of La(²²³Ra)VO₄ NPs with monoclinic structure and increases the ²²³Ra radiochemical yield >85%. The leakage of decay daughters from La(²²³Ra)VO₄ NPs (pH 11) was 223Ra)VO₄ NPs with carboxylate and phosphate compounds resulted in a threefold decrease in hydrodynamic diameter and a ²²³Ra radiochemical yield between 74.7% and 99.6%. These results show the importance of tailoring the synthesis parameters and surface chemistry of LaVO₄ NPs to obtain high encapsulation and retention of radionuclides.

Development of actinium-225 doped Gd_0.8Eu_0.2VO₄core–shell nanoparticles as multifunctional platforms for multimodal molecular imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy.