Research of 131Cs Radionuclide Production for Brachytherapy with Photonuclear Method

Abstract

Purpose: Currently a brachytherapy method with 125I received widespread acceptance in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, since 2003, 131Cs radio-implants have been approved for clinical use in the treatment of this type of cancer. To investigate alternative 131Cs receiving channels using electron accelerators and to evaluate the effectiveness of this method for its use in brachytherapy.
 Material and methods: To study alternative channels for the 131Cs production using electron accelerators and to evaluate the efficiency of this method, we irradiated the natural cesium target (0.35 g) on a pulsed microtron with an electron energy of 55 MeV, an average amperage of 40–45 nA during 80 min.
 Results: The 131Cs activity in the irradiated sample was 12.2 ± 1.0 μCi at the end of irradiation. 
 Conclusion: In brachytherapy, 10 to 60 micro-sources are usually used to treat a patient. The activity of one therapeutic micro source is 131Cs of the order of 10–3 Ci. Thus, the development of the required amount becomes possible when using electron accelerators with currents of the order of 50 mA. In the future it is also necessary to investigate 131Cs in the electron energy range 30–45 MeV for choosing the optimal irradiation regime.