What are Medical Isotopes? - Dr. Dewar/Dr. Edwards

[Oscar]

FACT SHEET: M E D I C A L I S O T O P E S

http://sites.google.com/site/cleangreen ... l-isotopes

What are medical isotopes?

Medical isotopes are short-lived radioactive forms of chemical elements that are used either in diagnosis or in treatment of disease, primarily cancer. Canada has been one of the world’s main suppliers. The old NRU reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, which has produced isotopes for many years, is currently closed down for essential repairs. Plans to replace the NRU with new Maple reactors have collapsed because of major design flaws which appear to be far too expensive to fix.

The Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) recommends building a research reactor in Saskatchewan and using it in part for production of medical isotopes. The purpose of the isotope production would be to provide an income stream to justify part of the expense of operating a research reactor. Medical isotope production is therefore seen by the UDP rather as an income-generator than as a health care tool. Given that reactors take many years to build, suggesting that a research reactor at the University of Saskatchewan could assist i n the current isotope shortage situation in Canada is absurd.

How are medical isotopes used?

There is no doubt that current radioisotopes are useful for both diagnostic and treatment purposes. The vast majority of uses of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine are for diagnosis, not for cancer treatment.

Some of the radioisotopes in current use:

• Technetium-99m is produced through the decay of Molybdenum-99 which, in turn, is produced in nuclear reactors designed for isotope production (not nuclear power). Tc-99m is used in imaging to make diagnoses. Tc-99m is a gamma emitter but has such a short half life that it poses little problem in terms of waste; its short-lived activity means that the patient is exposed to a low dose of gamma rays. When its availability was limited last year, physicians discovered that judicious use of PET (positron emission tomography) scans and ultrasound could serve much the same purpose.

• Gallium-67 is cyclotron-produced by the proton irradiation of enriched zinc oxide. It is a gammaemitter with a half-life of 78.3 hours. For cancer staging, gallium scans have largely been replaced by PET scans. Gallium-67 continues to be useful in the imaging of inflammation and infection.

• Cesium-131 is probably the “new” radionuclide for brachytherapy, the insertion of radioactive beads into the cancerous growth. It is produced by radioactive decay from a neutron-irradiated naturally occurring barium-130 or from enriched barium containing barium-131. The source of the neutrons can be a nuclear reactor or another neutron generating device such as a linear accelerator or neutron generator.

• Iodine-131 is a fission product of uranium. Its principle use is for ablation of thyroid cancer cells but it is also used in brachytherapy.

Can we have medical isotopes without power reactors?

The nuclear industry often uses the public acceptability of medical radionuclides and the fear of losing access to the services they provide as a suggested reason for needing nuclear power. They imply that nuclear power is necessary if we want medical isotopes. The reality is that many currently used medical isotopes can be (and are) produced without nuclear reactors, using cyclotron technologies.

The current supply issues for medical isotopes has more to do with lack of coordination of reactor shut-down schedules than with inadequate world-wide capacity to produce the materials. For the short term, it looks as if we’ll have to rely more on alternative diagnostic methods. In the mid term, it appears that the NRU will be repaired and continue in service for a few more years until longer-term solutions are in place. Before anyone commits to trying to build new isotope reactors there is a need for a global review of the whole system of supplying such materials.

Are there alternative ways to produce diagnostic and therapeutic materials?

• Molybdenum-99, the radioisotope whose shortage caused havoc last winter, can be produced by using a cyclotron with a molybdenum-100 target.

• Edmonton’s cancer clinic is able to use F sodium fluoride, which is particularly helpful in detecting bone cancers, bone fractures, arthritis and spinal problems and is an alternative to the molybdenum radioisotope produced at Ontario's Chalk River facility. It can also be used in place of Technetium-99m. The new radioactive drugs will first be made in particle accelerators called cyclotrons in Edmonton, Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa, with ultimate plans to get more cyclotrons on line to reduce waiting time for patients.

• The use of cobalt-60 may be phased out altogether, as safer alternative technologies take over -- especially since several patients have been injured by cobalt-60 radiotherapy devices due to programming errors in the computerized AECL radiotherapy units; alternative radioisotopes may be found which can be produced in cyclotrons and which can substitute for cobalt-60, or a method may be developed for producing cobalt-60
economically in an accelerator.

• Arrangements may be made to maintain a number of small reactors in operation solely for the purpose of producing selected radionuclides for use in medicine, industry and scientific research.

• The most frequently used procedure in nuclear medicine uses technetium-99m to scan internal organs after the patient ingests the isotope.

Two alternatives to Technetium-99m are:

(a) thallium-206, a radioactive isotope produced in a cyclotron (no uranium use) and

(b) (b) PET-scans, which require a short-lived radioactive isotope called fluorine-18, also produced in a cyclotron (no uranium use). PET scans often give better pictures than technetium-99m. PET scan machines are expensive, about 2-3 million dollars each, but remembering that Ottawa has poured 1.7 billion dollars into Chalk River since 2006, you could buy 500-600 Pet machines with this amount of money. Even the money wasted on the MAPLE reactors (about 530 million) would buy over 170 PET scan machines.

The amount of uranium used for medical isotopes is an extremely small fraction of the uranium used by nuclear power reactors. Even if no new uranium mines were opened up there would be plenty of uranium to produce medical isotopes for a very long time to come. And, it may be that in a number of years we will look back on radioisotope diagnosis and treatment like our modern perspective on bloodletting or, more recently, open-abdominal surgery for gall bladders -- beneficial when we didn't know how to do anything else, but "out of date" because it will have been replaced with better, less risky treatment.

Based on information supplied by Dale Dewar, MD. Past President, Physicians for Global Survival and Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility For more information visit www.cleangreensask.ca

========================

Radioisotopes in Medicine

by Dale Dewar, MD. Past President, Physicians for Global Survival.
http://sites.google.com/site/cleangreen ... l-isotopes

Here are some of my thoughts, in summary:

The nuclear industry promotes nuclear power and medical uses of radionuclides as inextricably linked. In 1991, when Bill C-204 (placing a moratorium on further nuclear power plants in Canada) was introduced in parliament, the industry went into full propaganda mode, even claiming that x-ray machines would be affected! (Well, perhaps not “claiming” but not denying the rumour either.)

Radioisotopes entered medical use before nuclear reactors. At first, naturally occurring radium-226 and radium-224 were used. In the 1940's, use of a cyclotron for bombarding various target materials created new radioisotopes. From their discovery, physicians were fascinated by these substances that could destroy cells with or without direct contact. Strontium-90 was used as a salt to destroy superficial skin cancers. The early brachytherapy* beads contained radium-226, iridium-192 or palladium-103. Their use has always required a cautious approach, finding a dose that cured with a minimum of side effects. There is no doubt that current radioisotopes are useful for both diagnostic and treatment purposes.

Some of the radioisotopes in current use:

1. Cobalt-60 is produced in some nuclear power reactors. It is a gamma emitter and used to sterilize medical instruments and as an external treatment of some solid cancers.

2. Technetium-99m is produced through the decay of Molybdenum-99 which, in turn, is produced in nuclear reactors designed for isotope production (not nuclear power). Tc-99m is used in imaging to make diagnoses. Tc-99m is a gamma emitter but has such a short half life that it poses next to no problem in terms of waste; its short-lived activity means that the patient is exposed to a low dose of gamma rays. When its availability was limited last year, physicians discovered that judicious use of PET scans and ultrasound could serve much the same purpose.

3. Gallium-67 is cyclotron-produced by the proton irradiation of enriched zinc oxide. It is a gamma-emitter with a half-life of 78.3 hours. For cancer staging, gallium scans have largely been replaced by PET scans, or positron emission tomography. Gallium-67 continues to be useful in the imaging of inflammation and infection.

4. Cesium-131 is probably the “new” radionuclide for brachytherapy, the insertion of radioactive beads into the cancerous growth. It is produced by radioactive decay from a neutron-irradiated naturally occurring barium-130 or from enriched barium containing barium-131. The source of the neutrons can be a nuclear reactor or another neutron generating device such as a linear accelerator or neutron generator.

5. Iodine-131 is a fission product of uranium in nuclear reactors or of plutonium in nuclear bombs. Its principle use is for ablation of thyroid cancer cells but it is also used in brachytherapy.

Radionuclides and nuclear power?

1. New reactors are not required to keep medical sources supplied. We will have enough for many years with our current reactors.

2. Research indicates that molybdenum-99, the radioisotope whose shortage caused havoc last winter, can be produced by using a cyclotron with a molybdenum-100 target.

3. The use of cobalt-60 may be phased out altogether, as safer alternative technologies take over -- especially since several patients have been injured by cobalt-60 radiotherapy devices due to programming errors in the computerized AECL radiotherapy units; alternative radioisotopes may be found which can be produced in cyclotrons and which can substitute for cobalt-60, or a method may be developed for producing cobalt-60 economically in an accelerator.

4. Arrangements may be made to maintain a number of small reactors in operation solely for the purpose of producing selected radionuclides for use in medicine , industry and scientific research.

I personally believe that in a number of years, we will look back on radioisotope diagnosis and treatment like our modern perspective on blood-letting or, more recently, open-abdominal surgery for gall bladders and uteri, beneficial when we didn't know how to do anything else but "out of date" because it will have been replaced with better, less risky treatment.
==
* Brachytherapy: a form of radiotherapy where a radioactive source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment.

[Oscar]

Published in the Meridian Booster (Lloydminster) on August 17, 2009

To the Editor

Wall’s end-run on consultation process

It was interesting to watch Premier Wall by-pass the so-called ‘public consultations’ process on the uranium issue last week and announce his proposal to Harper’s government to produce medical isotopes at the University of Saskatchewan using a nuclear reactor.

Not to mention the fact that Dan Perrins, the Chair of those consultations, has until the end of August to make his recommendations on how the Sask Party should proceed in its frenzied quest of a value-added uranium industry for the province.

It’s also interesting to note that Manitoba has taken its nose out of the government subsidy feedbag long enough to come up with plans to produce those same medical isotopes with an electron accelerator – without the use of a nuclear reactor.

Sad to say, looks like those folks who said that the UDP public consultations were a sham – were right!

Elaine Hughes
Archerwill, SK

[Oscar]

Isotopes deal for CLS - Feds, province funding project worth $12M

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Isotopes+deal/
4161937/story.html

BY JEREMY WARREN, THE STAR PHOENIX JANUARY 25, 2011 8:17 AM
A $12-million pilot project in Saskatoon will produce medical isotopes at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) by using linear accelerator technology instead of a more expensive and less reliable nuclear reactor.
The project is one of four in Canada that aim to prove high-energy particle accelerators, which do not require the uranium used in current isotope production at nuclear reactors, can mass-produce medical isotopes.
Federal and provincial officials made the funding announcement Monday at the CLS on the University of Saskatchewan campus. Natural Resources Canada approved the project in October, but the funding details - $10 million from Ottawa, $2 million from the province - had not been revealed until this week.
The CLS, home of Canada's synchrotron research centre, will use the $12 million to purchase and operate a linear accelerator to produce and study the isotopes, which are used for diagnosis and treatment in nuclear medicine.
National Research Council of Canada research proved linear accelerators can make medical isotopes, but mass production of isotopes hasn't been tested. The CLS prototype hopes to prove production works on a mass scale.
"Our project aims to demonstrate that a reliable supply of the medical isotope technetium-99m can be produced safely, reliably, affordably and in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of Canadians," said CLS director of accelerators Mark de Jong.

MORE:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/Isotopes+deal/
4161937/story.html

[Oscar]

Canada seeks new non-nuclear ways to make medical isotopes - Update 1

< http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/ ... 9620130228 >

Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:01am EST

* Ottawa funds three institutions researching isotope output

* Only Canadian source of isotopes is ageing reactor

* Goal is to have isotopes from alternative sources by 2016

* Canada wants private sector to run Chalk River plant

OTTAWA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Canada will fund three institutions that are seeking ways to make medical isotopes without using nuclear reactors, in a bid to assure a more reliable supply source, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Thursday.

Canada's only current source of the isotopes - used widely in medical imaging - is an ageing, problem-plagued reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd's Chalk River facility. The reactor is licensed to run until 2016.

Oliver said the government would give a total of C$25 million ($24.3 million) to three facilities researching ways to make isotopes using non-nuclear methods such as cyclotrons and linear accelerators.

"Our challenge now is to prove that cyclotron and linear accelerator production can be commercially viable. ... We envision a future where isotope production will no longer require highly enriched uranium - a weapons-grade material," he said.

Speaking separately, government officials said they hoped the new non-nuclear isotopes would become commercially available in 2016 to assure no supply interruption should the AECL reactor shut down that year, when its license is due to expire.

Oliver also announced Canada wanted a private operator to run the Chalk River plant and the reactor, which regulators closed for safety reasons in 2007 and then again from May 2009 to August 2010. Oliver said it would take two years to put a private operator in place.

The closures dealt a major blow to Nordion Inc, which as a major supplier of isotopes relied on Chalk River.

AECL had built two more modern prototype reactors to make isotopes but eventually mothballed them after a series of problems. An arbitration panel last year rejected Nordion's claim for damages against AECL.

Oliver said the government was not seeking to close down or sell the Chalk River plant. In October 2011 Canada sold AECL's Candu nuclear reactor division to a subsidiary of SNC Lavalin Group Inc.

= = = = =

UPDATE 3-Medical isotope maker Nordion explores alternatives

< http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/ ... SJ20130128 >

Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:32pm EST

* Jefferies & Co hired as adviser for strategic review
* Nordion suspended dividend in Sept after arbitration defeat
* Dispute with supplier AECL moves into court
* Shares jump 7 pct on Toronto Stock Exchange (Adds detail on earnings and market cap, background)

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Canada's Nordion Inc, a major provider of isotopes used in medical imaging, said on Monday it hired advisers to examine options for its future, sending its shares sharply higher.

Nordion suspended its dividend in September after an arbitration panel rejected its claim for damages from its main supplier, state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, putting one of its core businesses in jeopardy.

The company said no decision had been made on a deal and it intends to stay with planned business activities during the strategic review. Jefferies & Co will advise the company in the review.

On a conference call with analysts and investors, Chief Executive Steve West said the review was in "early stages" and declined to comment further.

The company also reported financial results after postponing their release in December, when it said it was in discussions to amend the terms of a credit facility. It reached a new $80 million credit facility agreement on Jan. 25.

Nordion is one of the world's leading producers of molybdenum-99, used in medical imaging, and it depends on raw material from AECL's aging facility in Chalk River, Ontario.

The plant has been operating since 1957, and while it is licensed to operate until 2016, its future beyond that is unclear. Nordion had hoped to force AECL to pay damages or complete two new reactors that would have ensured a long-term supply of the radioactive material it needs.

MORE:

< http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/ ... SJ20130128 >

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Link to Related Quotes and News below:

< http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/ ... SJ20130128 >

Nordion IncNDN.TO

$7.23

+0.21+2.99%

Hedge fund manager says Nordion should be trading at $11 a share
UPDATE 3-Medical isotope maker Nordion explores alternatives
More NDN.TO News »


SNC Lavalin Group IncSNC.TO
$46.77

-0.36-0.76%

Former SNC-Lavalin CEO faces new corruption charges
Canada's SNC Lavalin hires ex-Siemens compliance executive

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(2011) Canadian-led team aims to produce medical isotopes without nuclear reactor

(NOTE: There are many internal Links in this article - go to Original URL below . . . . )

< http://www.lightsources.org/press-relea ... ar-reactor >

Press Release Number: PR-CLS-11-1-3I Source: Canadian Light Source Facility: Canadian Light Source

Date: Monday, January 24, 2011

Producing medical isotopes safely, cheaply and reliably without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium is the aim of a research project led by the Canadian Light Source (CLS) along with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes and medical researchers from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Toronto’s University Health Network.

The CLS Medical Isotope Project will receive $10 million from the Government of Canada and $2 million from the Province of Saskatchewan to study the technical and economic feasibility of producing medical isotopes using high energy X-rays from a particle accelerator.

The project, one of four being funded by Natural Resources Canada’s Non-reactor-based Isotope Supply Contribution Program (NISP), was announced by Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis at an event in Sherbrooke, QC and by Mr. Brad Trost, M.P. for Saskatoon-Humboldt, and Saskatchewan Innovation Minister Rob Norris at the CLS in Saskatoon.

“The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to partner with the Government of Canada to support this leading edge research in nuclear medicine,” says Minister Norris. “Saskatchewan’s investment represents a return by our province to the forefront of R&D in nuclear medicine at the University of Saskatchewan where the first use of cobalt-60 for cancer therapy was pioneered 60 years ago.”

“We are grateful to the Government of Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan for their leadership and support of our project,” says Mark de Jong, CLS Director of Accelerators and the project’s principal investigator. “This is an outstanding example of how the CLS and NRC, partnering with research and development leaders from industry and the academic community can solve problems of critical importance to the health of Canadians.”

The project will use a high energy linear accelerator to bombard coin-sized discs of molybdenum-100 with X-rays to produce molybdenum-99 isotope. The molybdenum-99 decays into technetium-99m, the isotope used in approximately 5500 diagnostic medical procedures in Canada every day.

MORE:

< http://www.lightsources.org/press-relea ... ar-reactor >

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(2010) CLS may produce medical isotopes

< http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... story.html >

By Jeremy Warren, of The Star Phoenix June 26, 2010

The Canadian Light Source thinks it can help solve the medical isotope shortage in Canada without using a nuclear reactor or weapons-grade uranium.

The CLS, home of Canada's national synchrotron research centre, is proposing to use a linear accelerator to produce medical isotopes, which are used for diagnosis and treatment in nuclear medicine.

Natural Resources Canada has asked for proposals from institutions that can produce medical isotopes without a nuclear reactor and CLS officials are putting together a bid for $10 million of the $35-million pot of research funding available from Ottawa.

CLS officials are confident in the technology, but they have to prove that it can work as a business, said CLS deputy director and director of accelerators Mark de Jong.

"(Ottawa) wants some view of how these isotopes will be made commercially," de Jong said Friday afternoon. "Is it a business that makes sense? A lot of that is not clear right now."

When Ottawa's National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River was shut down for repairs last year, the halt in operations created a worldwide medical isotope shortage.

Now, the federal government, which plans to sell reactor operator Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, wants to privatize isotope production and create a secure supply for Canada.

Ottawa has turned to research institutions like CLS and the B.C.-based TRIUMF cyclotron to end the shortage, at least in Canada.

MORE:

< http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/pr ... story.html >