| abstract |
Actinium-225 and other alpha particle-emitting radionuclides hold great promise as potential therapeutic agents for cancer treatment. However, use of these radionuclides is limited by systemic toxicity resulting from release of administered radionuclides and radioactive decay products thereof. If the radionuclides are confined to the target cells, efficacy is increased and toxicity is decreased. However, covalent linking of the radionuclides to targeting molecules does not prevent toxicity resulting from the systemic release of alpha-particle emitting daughter radionuclides. The present invention provides targeted delivery of alpha particle-emitting radionuclides and their alpha-emitting progeny using liposomal encapsulating to prevent the loss of progeny radionuclides from the targeting vehicle and, therefore, the tumor site. |