Cure for some cancers found in an Oak Ridge National Lab waste container
An ORNL isotope is saving the lives of cancer patients in medical trials, and is on its way to helping more Americans as the president prepares to sign new legislation that would allow more patients to try experimental medical treatments.
Actinium-225, an isotope of the element actinium, which is usually found in
uranium ores, is proving effective in curing - not just treating - myeloid
leukemia. The isotope, when combined with tumor-seeking antibodies, is able to
target and kill cancer cells without affecting healthy cells that surround
them. Actinium is a byproduct of Uranium-233, which the United States produced
for ORNL's Molten Salt Reactor Experiment in the 1960s.
In the late 1990s, ORNL nuclear medical scientist Saed Mirzadeh and the
team of scientists he works with made a pitch to clean the stainless steel tank
where all the waste associated with the U-233 production were dumped into and
purify the Actinium inside.
Scientists continue to purify actinium, working in "hot," or
radioactive, caves at ORNL's Radiochemical Engineering Development Center.
Right now,
Oak Ridge is the world's only source for the isotope.
The project
has garnered support from the Department of Energy. Mirzadeh said DOE has set a
significant amount of funding aside to find another way to produce actinium if
the FDA approves it as a cancer treatment.
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Source: Knoxnews