Radiopharmaceuticals Actinium-225: why is it useful as a drug?

 actinium-225 (Ac-225) therapeutic radiopharmaceutical used in the therapy of prostate cancer 

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/new-crp-production-and-quality-control-of-actinium-225-radiopharmaceuticals-f22075

Hi I think this is due to the fact that actinium-225 is an alpha emitter

But is it so widely used? As far as I know, Ac-225 is very expensive, and it's only considered as promising with developing new technologies for use. Maybe I'm wrong

@_brauer_ I don’t know about the breadth of use, but I think you are right, not widely

@_brauer_ And why an alpha emitter is a cool thing?

@_brauer_ About width of use - I do not know...

@morphism alpha particles have a small run in tissues, and this allows to kill cancer cells almost without harming healthy ones. Therefore, alpha-emitters are promising for the treatment of micrometastases and individual malignant cells. Moreover, I've  read that alpha particles damage DNA molecules 100-1000 times more than beta particles

Actually, I don't know how widely Ac-225 is used now. I only know that it is obtained either on a linear accelerator by irradiating natural thorium with protons, or on a cyclotron using a nuclear reaction. I think it should be expensive

@_brauer_ Oh, I see. Thanks for the info!

@_brauer_ Interesting, maybe it is expensive...