ISOTOPE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND... | U.S. DOE Office of Science(SC)
Source: https://science.osti.gov/Isotope-Research-Development-and-Production/Science-Highlights/2025/5a
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:14
ISOTOPE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND... | U.S. DOE Office of Science(SC)
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Killing Cancer with Radioactive Nanocrystals
Scientists have developed tiny nanocrystal particles made up of isotopes of the elements lanthanum, vanadium, and oxygen for use in treating cancer.
Image courtesy of Chris Orosco/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Artists’ depiction of a new potential cancer treatment vehicle—an engineered nanometer-size construct that holds a radioactive isotope that can be delivered to destroy cancer cells.
The Science
Scientists have developed tiny nanocrystal particles made up of
isotopes
of the elements lanthanum, vanadium, and oxygen for use in treating cancer. These crystals are smaller than many microbes and can carry isotopes of elements such as actinium and radium. These isotopes undergo
radioactive decay
, emitting alpha particles (helium nuclei) that destroy cancer cells in the process. The individual isotopes that the nanocrystals carry are too small to see. So, the researchers used advanced computer simulations and data from experiments to understand how the isotopes are arranged inside the nanocrystals. This knowledge will help researchers design more effective radioactive nanocrystals that target and kill tumors.
The Impact
This research could revolutionize cancer therapy by enabling doctors to treat more types of cancers using an approach called targeted alpha therapy. This therapy delivers radioactive substances directly to diseased tissue, where they then decay and break DNA strands in the cancer cells. Targeted therapies have fewer side effects and cause only minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells. Previous studies have found that these therapies can be as much as 50% more effective than traditional chemotherapy, in which patients receive powerful drugs that kill cancer cells. However, alpha therapy only works for types of cancers for which researchers have found effective delivery methods. This study may lead to new imaging methods for cancer detection and diagnosis, as well as new, more effective cancer therapies.
Summary
Inorganic nanocrystals loaded with medical radioisotopes are promising tools for cancer therapy because they offer a new way to deliver cancer-killing radiation to tumors. This study focused on how two radioactive isotopes, actinium and radium, become part of these nanocrystals so they can be delivered to cancer cells. Using a combination of experimental synthesis and molecular dynamics simulations, the research team discovered that the actinium isotopes tend to form tightly packed clusters within the nanocrystals, while radium isotopes distribute more broadly across their surface.
The findings, validated in the laboratory by analyzing their chemical signatures at high resolution, help provide a blueprint for designing nanocrystals optimized for cancer therapy. These new therapies will benefit the treatment of localized tumors, such as breast, brain, and ovarian cancer, but will also have the advantage of being targetable to metastatic cancer anywhere in the body. This type of radiation treatment destroys the targeted cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy organs, resulting in fewer side effects. Understanding these therapies at the atomic level opens new pathways for tailoring them to image and treat more types of tumors.
Contact
Sandra Davern
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
davernsm@ornl.gov
Funding
This research was supported by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) program. The isotopes used in this research were supplied by the Department of Energy (DOE) Isotope Program, managed by the DOE Office of Isotope R&D and Production. The simulations used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, both of which are DOE Office of Science user facilities.
Publications
Goswami, M., et al.,
Atomic-scale insights into radionuclide behavior in lanthanide vanadate nanoconstructs
.
ACS Nano
18
, 26 (2024). [DOI:
10.1021/acsnano.3c13213
]
Highlight Categories
Program:
IP
Performer:
DOE Laboratory
,
NERSC
,
OLCF
Progress Towards Unlocking Antimony’s Cancer Treatment Potential
Researchers gain a new understanding of the binding chemistry of radioactive antimony, opening doors for targeted therapy.
To Advance Cancer Therapy, University Starts Producing Terbium-161
A University of Utah research team demonstrates that a low power university research reactor can produce terbium-161 at high purity from gadolinium-160.
Contact
Address
Office of Isotope R&D and Production, IRP
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585-1290
Phone
Tel (301) 903-3400
Email
Send us a message
Isotopes@science.doe.gov
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ISOTOPE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND... | U.S. DOE Office of Science(SC)
Official websites use .gov
A
.gov
website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock
(
) or
https://
means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
Killing Cancer with Radioactive Nanocrystals
Scientists have developed tiny nanocrystal particles made up of isotopes of the elements lanthanum, vanadium, and oxygen for use in treating cancer.
Image courtesy of Chris Orosco/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Artists’ depiction of a new potential cancer treatment vehicle—an engineered nanometer-size construct that holds a radioactive isotope that can be delivered to destroy cancer cells.
The Science
Scientists have developed tiny nanocrystal particles made up of
isotopes
of the elements lanthanum, vanadium, and oxygen for use in treating cancer. These crystals are smaller than many microbes and can carry isotopes of elements such as actinium and radium. These isotopes undergo
radioactive decay
, emitting alpha particles (helium nuclei) that destroy cancer cells in the process. The individual isotopes that the nanocrystals carry are too small to see. So, the researchers used advanced computer simulations and data from experiments to understand how the isotopes are arranged inside the nanocrystals. This knowledge will help researchers design more effective radioactive nanocrystals that target and kill tumors.
The Impact
This research could revolutionize cancer therapy by enabling doctors to treat more types of cancers using an approach called targeted alpha therapy. This therapy delivers radioactive substances directly to diseased tissue, where they then decay and break DNA strands in the cancer cells. Targeted therapies have fewer side effects and cause only minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells. Previous studies have found that these therapies can be as much as 50% more effective than traditional chemotherapy, in which patients receive powerful drugs that kill cancer cells. However, alpha therapy only works for types of cancers for which researchers have found effective delivery methods. This study may lead to new imaging methods for cancer detection and diagnosis, as well as new, more effective cancer therapies.
Summary
Inorganic nanocrystals loaded with medical radioisotopes are promising tools for cancer therapy because they offer a new way to deliver cancer-killing radiation to tumors. This study focused on how two radioactive isotopes, actinium and radium, become part of these nanocrystals so they can be delivered to cancer cells. Using a combination of experimental synthesis and molecular dynamics simulations, the research team discovered that the actinium isotopes tend to form tightly packed clusters within the nanocrystals, while radium isotopes distribute more broadly across their surface.
The findings, validated in the laboratory by analyzing their chemical signatures at high resolution, help provide a blueprint for designing nanocrystals optimized for cancer therapy. These new therapies will benefit the treatment of localized tumors, such as breast, brain, and ovarian cancer, but will also have the advantage of being targetable to metastatic cancer anywhere in the body. This type of radiation treatment destroys the targeted cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy organs, resulting in fewer side effects. Understanding these therapies at the atomic level opens new pathways for tailoring them to image and treat more types of tumors.
Contact
Sandra Davern
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
davernsm@ornl.gov
Funding
This research was supported by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) program. The isotopes used in this research were supplied by the Department of Energy (DOE) Isotope Program, managed by the DOE Office of Isotope R&D and Production. The simulations used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, both of which are DOE Office of Science user facilities.
Publications
Goswami, M., et al.,
Atomic-scale insights into radionuclide behavior in lanthanide vanadate nanoconstructs
.
ACS Nano
18
, 26 (2024). [DOI:
10.1021/acsnano.3c13213
]
Highlight Categories
Program:
IP
Performer:
DOE Laboratory
,
NERSC
,
OLCF
Progress Towards Unlocking Antimony’s Cancer Treatment Potential
Researchers gain a new understanding of the binding chemistry of radioactive antimony, opening doors for targeted therapy.
To Advance Cancer Therapy, University Starts Producing Terbium-161
A University of Utah research team demonstrates that a low power university research reactor can produce terbium-161 at high purity from gadolinium-160.
Contact
Address
Office of Isotope R&D and Production, IRP
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585-1290
Phone
Tel (301) 903-3400
Send us a message
Isotopes@science.doe.gov
Top
Leaving Office of Science
The link you have requested will take you to a website outside the Office of Science.
Please click the following link to continue:
Thank you for visiting our site. We hope your visit was informative and enjoyable.
sub nav