Treating Cancer With Precision
Technology
The Alpha DaRT Technology
As known in the medical community, Alpha particles are highly lethal to cancerous cells, creating complex double-strand DNA breaks. Only a few hits to the cell nucleus are required to kill the cancer cell. However, as a result of their short range in tissue, Alpha particles had been unsuitable for the treatment of cancer.
Alpha DaRT overcomes this range limitation and enables Alpha radiation for the treatment of solid tumors. The treatment is delivered by intratumoral insertion of the Alpha DaRT seed that contains Radium-224 atoms embedded below its surface. In the process of decay, Radium-224 releases its short-lived Alpha-emitting atoms into the tumor. By diffusion and convection, these atoms disperse to a therapeutically significant range of several millimeters, delivering a high dose of radiation inside the tumor.
The Radium-224 Decay Chain
The Alpha DaRT Technology was developed in 2003 at Tel Aviv University. Since then, numerous preclinical studies have found the technology to be effective and safe for various indications, including tumors that are considered to be resistant to standard radiotherapy.
The findings were published in 12 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.