Kemik Metastazlarının Tedavisinde Radyofarmasötiklerin Rolü

Cancer, having quite high morbidity and mortality rates, has become a significant public health problem in recent years, and it is the second leading cause of death after heart disease in the world. Metastases are one of the most serious complications of cancer, and bone metastases are detected in 2/3 of metastatic cancer cases. General therapy approaches in bone metastases can be classified as surgery, bisphosphonates therapy, radiotherapy, and radionuclide therapy. Radionuclide therapy using alpha and beta emitting radionuclides is more selective and effective than other local and systemic treatment methods, and this feature provide several advantages over existing therapeutic methods. Radionuclide therapy used in bone metastasis for reducing the pain, killing tumor cells, prolonging life span, and improving quality of life. In recent years, alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals [such as Radium-223 (Ra-223) chloride] and beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals [such as Strontium-89 (Sr-89) chloride, Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) labeled Ethylenediamine Tetra Methylene Phosphonic Acid (EDTMP), Samarium-153 (Sm-153) labeled EDTMP] are introduced in the clinic for especially the treatment of painful bone metastases and on the other hand new radiopharmaceutical development studies also continue intensively, like Actinium-225 labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen-617 (Ac-225-PSMA). Many studies have proven that using radiopharmaceuticals in the therapy of bone metastases improves the patient's general health, reduces pain and the risk of pathological fractures, and increases survival. This review presents an overview of radionuclide therapy used in bone metastases. In this context, general information about the radiopharmaceuticals is given, and the importance of the use of radiopharmaceuticals in bone metastases therapy is explained with experimental and clinical studies examples.