Flexible samarium-153 radiotherapeutic bandage for radiation therapy of skin cancer
A Talk by Wong Yin How (School of Medicine, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia)
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About this Talk
Yin How Wong1, Azahari Kasbollah2, Basri Johan Jeet Abdullah1 and Chai Hong Yeong1
1 School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor’s University, 47500 Subang Jaya, Malaysia 2 Malaysian Nuclear Agency, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract:
The incidence of skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades. Globally, it has been estimated between 2 and 3 million non-melanoma skin cancers and 132,000 melanoma skin cancers occur every year. Radiotherapeutic patches containing radionuclides have been shown their efficacy in treating skin cancer. In this study, a flexible, neutron activatable radiotherapeutic bandage containing samarium-153 (153Sm) has been developed for the treatment of skin cancer.
The radiotherapeutic bandage was synthesized from medical grade polyurethane (PU) and samarium-152 (152Sm) using electrospinning technique. The 152Sm-loaded PU bandage was then neutron activated, converting 152Sm to 153Sm (Emax = 807.6 keV, half-life = 46.3 hrs) via 152Sm(n,γ)153Sm reaction. Different physicochemical properties such nanofiber morphology, radionuclide impurities, radioactivity and thermal stability of the bandage were evaluated post-neutron activation. The in-vitro retention of 153SmAcAc on the PU bandage was performed in saline solution over a duration of 120 hours.
The 153Sm-loaded PU bandage achieved nominal activity of 444 ± 16.9 µCi/mg or 3472 ± 97 µCi/cm2 after 6 hours neutron activation. The size and morphology of the bandage remained the same after neutron activation. No radionuclide impurities was observed after neutron activation. The bandage was found stable up to 200°C. By manipulating the neutron activation duration, different amounts of radioactivity were produced to meet the desired dosage for different stages or conditions of skin cancer. Furthermore, the radioactive bandage can be cut into specific shapes and sizes before the neutron activation to cover only the treatment area and hence minimizing radiation exposure to the healthy tissues. The in-vitro retention efficiency of 153Sm was more than 95% in saline solution for 120 hours.
The 153Sm-loaded flexible radiotherapeutic bandage are potentially useful for radiation therapy of skin cancer in view of its favorable physicochemical characteristics and excellent retention efficiency.