Main description:

Radionuclide therapy employing unsealed radiotherapeutic agents has emerged as an important tool for cancer management. A number of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals based on different types of carrier molecule and a variety of radioisotopes are currently being developed, and reliable, efficient laboratory analytical methods are needed to compare their relative effectiveness and to establish their stability and chemical, radiochemical and pharmaceutical purity. To address these issues, the IAEA organized a Coordinated Research Project on the comparative evaluation of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. This report summarizes the results obtained over the course of that investigation and describes, in detail, the analytical techniques, biological assays, animal tumour models and protocols for the evaluation of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that were established as a result. The information contained in this book will be of interest to those working in radiopharmaceutical chemistry and development, pharmacology, dosimetry and preclinical studies.