Radiopharmaceuticals

1. RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS AND USES
Presented by
J.Poorna Sindhu
4th Pharmd
14AB1T0010
Under the guidance of
Dr.G.Ramesh
Department of Pharmacy Practice
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3. CONTENTS
 Radiopharmaceuticals
 Isotopes
 Types of radioactive substances
 Uses of radiopharmaceuticals
- Diagnostic uses
- Therapeutic uses
 Radioactive half- life
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4. RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
 Radiopharmaceuticals, or medicinal radiocompounds, are a
group of pharmaceutical drugs which have radioactivity.
 They are the unique medical formulation containing
radioisotopes which are used in clinical diagnosis or
therapy.
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5. ISOTOPES
 The substance that have same atomic number but different
atomic weight are called isotopes.
 There are 2 types of isotopes found in nature. They include
Stable isotopes:
 These are those isotopes that do not undergo radioactive
decay and thus their nuclei are stable and their masses
remains the same.
Unstable isotopes (Radioactive isotopes):
 Mostly unstable isotopes are used for diagnostic purpose
because they have a property to decompose or decay by
emission of nuclear particles and some of them are used in
diagnostic or therapeutic interventions
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6. TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
The 3 main types of radioactive decaying substances are , β, γ particles.
Alpha paricles(α):
 Alpha paricles have the largest mass.
 Most of alpha particles are unstable to penetrate the outer layer of skin or
penetrate a thin piece of paper.
Beta particles (β) :
 Beta particles are electrons and have a range over 100 feet in air and up to
1mm in tissue.
 Beta particles are not as destructive as alpha particles but can be used
therapeutically.
Gamma rays (γ):
 Gamma rays are electromagnetic vibrations compare with light of much
shorter wave length.
 Because of shorter wave length and high energy, they easily penetrate.
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7. USES OF RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
• Radiopharmaceuticals are used in the field of nuclear medicine as
radioactive tracers in medical imaging and in therapy for many diseases
(for example, brachytherapy).
• These uses are categorized as follows
- Diagnostic uses
- Therapeutic uses
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8. DIAGNOSTIC USES
DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSE RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Abscess and infection Gallium citrate (Ga67)
Indium (In111)
Oxyquinoline
Biliary tract blockage Technetium (Tc 99m)
Disophenin
Blood vessel disease Sodium pertechnetate (Tc 99m)
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9. DIAGNOSTIC USES
DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSE RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Cancer tumours Fludeoxyglcose (F 18)
Gallium citrate (Ga67)
Indium (In111)
PentetreotideSodium (F 18)
Technetium (Tc 99m)
Arcitumomab
Heart disease Ammonia (N 13)
Fludeoxyglcose (F 18)
Rubidium (Rb 82)
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10. THERAPEUTIC USES
 Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals are radio labelled molecules
designed to deliver therapeutic doses of ionizing radiation to
specific diseased sites.
 Radioisotopes may be used internally or externally.
 If the radioisotopes are used externally or as implants in sealed
capsules in a tissue, the dose could be terminated by removal of
the sources.
 If they are given internally as unsealed source, the dose cannot be
stopped by removal of the source
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11. THERAPEUTIC USES
THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Therapy I-131 tositumomab
Y-90 ibritumomab
Y90epratuzunab
Treatment of Cancers and Tumours Cobalt 60 , Gold1 94
Holmium 66 (diagnosis and treatment
of liver tumours)
Iodine-125 (used in cancer
brachytherapy)
Rhenium 186 (used for pain relief in
bone cancer)
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12. THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Treatment of thyroid disease Iodine 131
Palliative Treatment of Bone
Metastasis
Samarium-153 (Sm-153)
Strontium-89 (Sr-89) chloride
Phosphorus-32 (P-32) sodium
phosphate
Treatment of arthritis Erbium 169
Yttrium 90
THERAPEUTIC USES
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13. RADIOACTIVE HALF-LIFE
• Half-life (symbol t1⁄2) is the time required for a quantity to reduce to half
its initial value.
• Half life is inversely proportional to decay constant.
• Larger the decay or disintegration constant (λ), the faster the progression
of decay and shorter the half life.
• Half life is calculated by the formula
T1/2= 0.693/ λ
• Example for calculation of half-life:
The disintegration constant of radioisotope is 0.02496 per day.
Calculate half life of it.
Solution: T1/2= 0.693/ λ
= 0.693/0.02496
= 27.7hrs-1
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14. REFERENCES
• Dr. Ramesh K.Goyal, Dr. R.K. Parikh, Dr. Mayur M. Patel –
A text book of hospital pharmacy, Pg no- 50-70
• H.P. Tipnis, Amrita Bajaj – Hospital pharmacy, Pg no- 35-45
• https://www.pharmatutor.org/articles/medical-uses-
radiopharmaceuticals
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/radiopharmaceutical
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