A new calculational method to assess the therapeutic potential of Auger electron emission

This paper discusses a new computer code to estimate the efficacy of Auger electron sources in cancer therapy. Auger electron emission accompanies the decay of many radionuclides already commonly used in nuclear medicine, for example; 99mTc and 201Tl. The range of these electrons is in general sub-cellular, therefore, the toxicity of the source depends on the site of decay relative to the genetic material of the cell. Electron track structure methods have been used which enable the study of energy deposition from Auger sources down to the Angstrom level. A figure for the minimum energy required per single strand break is obtained by fitting our energy deposition calculations for 125I decays in a model of the DNA to experimental data on break lengths from 125I labeled plasmid fragments. This method is used to investigate the efficiency of double strand break production by other Auger sources which have potential value for therapy. The high RBE of Auger sources depends critically on the distance between the source and target material. The application of Auger emitters for therapy may necessitate a carrier molecule that can append the source to the DNA. Many DNA localizing agents are known in the field of chemotherapy, some of which could be carrier molecules for Auger sources; the halogenated thymidine precursors are under scrutiny in this field. The activation of Auger cascades in situ by high energy, collimated X ray and neutron beams is also assessed.