²¹¹At at Texas A&M: Discovery Nuclear Physics Driving Medical Opportunities

Alpha emitting radionuclides with medically relevant half-lives are interesting for treatment of tumors and other diseases because they deposit large amounts of energy close to the location of the radioisotope. Researchers at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University have developed a program to produce ²¹¹At, an alpha emitter with a 7.2 h half-life. The properties of ²¹¹At make it a great candidate for targeted alpha therapy for cancer due to its short half-life and decay mechanism. Astatine-211 is now regularly produced and novel chemistry has been developed for the separation of the At from the Bi target and the shipment to other research centers. Innovations to improve the safety and reliability of this process have been enacted.