Page 87 - 00. Complete Version - Progress Report IPEN 2014-2016

Application of Ionizing Radiations | Progress Report 87

Health Application of
Ionizing Radiation and

Radioactive Sources

Brachytherapy technique in nanoscale

Cancer is a global public health problem. The
disease consists in an uncontrolled growth of
anomalous cells that impair the functioning of
the body. One of the treatments for cancer is
the brachytherapy. In this treatment technique,
the radiation is placed close or in contact with
the region to be treated. The idea of using ra-
diation sources to treat disease is as old as the
discovery of radiation. With the association of
modern medicine with computational meth-
ods for manufacturing, testing and certifica-
tion, radiation sources for treatment are being
produced with high efficiency at millimetric
sizes. With recent advances in nanotechnol-
ogy, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) instead of
the traditional seeds is actively being investi-
gated. Due to the minimal size of the NPs, the
radiosensitization may be avoided, once this
method may delivery a more precise dose only
to the target volume, preserving adjacent tis-
sues and organs at risk (OAR). The combination
of nanotechnology with radiation sources cre-
ated the new research field: nanobrachyther-
apy. There are several challenges to be consid-
ered when implementing this research such
as characteristics of the radioisotope since not
all isotopes can be used to treat cancer, radia-
tion protection, characterization and animal
tests issues. For the past two years, our group
at IPEN, with a partnership with the Univer-
sity of Laval, was able to start a joint research
and developed two new nanosources.