Targeted alpha therapy: Breakthrough in treating refractory skin cancer
Source: ScienceDaily, March 2025
Metastatic melanoma, also known as stage IV melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that spreads to other parts of the body. It is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, with current therapies — including immunotherapy and targeted drugs — showing limited effectiveness. Radiotherapy is an emerging treatment for melanoma, but conventional beta-emitting radionuclide therapies have limitations due to their low energy transfer and long-range radiation, which can cause unintended damage to healthy tissues.
To enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy, a research team from Japan, led by Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Suzuki from Chiba University, including Dr. Tomoya Uehara from Chiba University, Dr. Noriko S. Ishioka from National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka from Juntendo University, Dr. Tadashi Watabe from Osaka University, adopted targeted alpha therapy (TAT) as a promising alternative to conventional beta therapy.
They developed an astatine-211 (211At)-labeled peptide drug that could offer a potential breakthrough for treating metastatic melanoma.