Groundbreaking Cancer Therapy Clinical Trial with U.S. Department of Energy's Accelerator-Produced Actinium-225 Set to Begin this Summer
National laboratories' accelerator-produced Ac-225 to be used in an FDA-approved targeted cancer therapy clinical trial for the first time
June 18, 2025
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This long-exposure image makes it possible to see the glow of actinium-225, an isotope that shows great promise for treating cancer. (Jessica Rotkiewicz/Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Editor’s note: The following news release was issued today by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science. Brookhaven National Laboratory is one of the DOE national laboratories producing and processing Actinium-225, a promising medical isotope, so that it can be tested in clinical trials. For more information about Brookhaven’s role in this work, contact: Karen McNulty Walsh, kmcnulty@bnl.gov, (631) 344-8350.
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Isotope Program, within the Office of Science, will supply a U.S. based company with accelerator produced actinium-225 (Ac-225) in support of an upcoming U.S. clinical trial for cancer therapy for the first time. This is a significant milestone in the advancement of radiopharmaceutical development and cancer therapy because it opens a potential new pipeline for this lifesaving isotope.
"We are proud to enable U.S. based companies to push past the boundaries on how we combat cancer in this country," said Christopher Landers, Director of the Office of Isotope R&D and Production. "This collaboration exemplifies the purpose of our mission to ensure that critical isotopes are readily available to meet domestic needs across all aspects of society, including medical therapies."
The clinical trial is scheduled to begin in summer 2025 and will be the first to rely on accelerator-produced Ac-225 for human patient care. Ac-225 is a radioisotope in short supply because of the current complicated production process. The Isotope Program has established a scalable production method to fill this need using the particle accelerators at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. For many years, researchers have used the accelerator-produced Ac-225 in developing potential cancer treatment options and in animal studies for safety and efficacy. Now, the accelerator-produced Ac-225 will be explored for clinical use.
The Isotope Program produces critical radioactive and stable isotopes in short supply for the nation and is one of a few or only global producers for these novel isotopes. Isotopes are high-priority commodities of strategic importance and are essential in medical diagnosis and treatment, industrial applications in oil and gas, national security, quantum information systems, space exploration and communications, discovery science and various other applications. Isotopes directly enable emerging technology, and contribute to the economic, technical, and scientific strength of the United States.
2025-22504 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
