New Delhi, July 15: US researchers have decoded an element that could destroy cancerous cells, and advance treatment options for the deadly disease that claims millions of lives globally. The element, actinium, was first discovered by French scientist Andre-Louis Debierne in 1899 and is number 89 on the Periodic Table. Now after 125 years of its existence, there is a bright chance it could improve cancer treatments, as found by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Even after 125 years, actinium remains an enigmatic element of science because to date it is found in extremely small quantities, and special facilities are needed to work with it, not just any ordinary radioactive lab. The team of scientists tried growing it and while elements can behave very similarly to their lightweight counterparts, actinium behaved differently than its counterpart lanthanum. From nuclear energy to medicine, these elements can serve the purpose admirably, for both are radioactive and earthy minerals, it is not actinium itself that saves the day, it is an isotope — a distinct nuclear species of any element — named actinium 225 that has shown promise in a method called targeted alpha therapy (TAT).
The TAT technique transports radioactive elements to the cancer site via biological delivery mechanisms such as peptides or antibodies. When actinium decays, it emits energetic particles that travel a short distance, killing local cancer cells while sparing healthy ti.