Advances in 211At production at Texas A&M University

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 are developing a program to produce 211At, an alpha emitter with a medically relevant half-life. The properties of 211At make it a great candidate for targeted alpha therapy for cancer due to its short half-life (7.2 h). Astatine-211 has now been produced multiple times and reliability of this process is being improved.