Excretion and whole-body retention of radium-223 dichloride administered for the treatment of bone metastases from castration resistant prostate cancer

Objective The aim of the study was to determine the fraction of administered activity that was excreted and retained by a small cohort of patients who each received treatment with radium-223 dichloride (223Ra). 223Ra is an α-emitting radionuclide that has been approved for use in the treatment of bone metastases that are secondary to castration resistant prostate cancer. Patients and methods Six patients received two weight-based administrations of 223Ra 6 weeks apart. Activity excreted in the urine and faeces during the first 48 h following each treatment was assessed by direct counting of the excreta. During the same period the whole-body retention of 223Ra was also determined using a single probe counting system. The results of the excreta counting and the whole-body counting were compared to determine whether whole-body counting was a suitable surrogate for assessing excretion. Further whole-body retention counts were made at around 3, 4, 7 and 42 days following treatment. Results Patterns of excretion and retention of 223Ra varied significantly between patients, but were similar for each patient’s pair of treatments. The cumulative maximum activity excreted in the initial 8-h period following the 223Ra administration was 2.6% that increased to 39% at 48 h. The median excreted activity at ~1 and 6 weeks after treatment was 70 and 86%, respectively. Skeletal retention of 223Ra at 6 weeks ranged from 11 to 60% of the administered activity.
Source: Nuclear Medicine Communications - Category: Nuclear Medicine Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research