The IAEA is launching a new five-year Coordinated Research Project with the goal of improving accuracy in radiopharmaceutical therapy dosimetry. Dosimetry in clinical applications refers to the measurement and assessment of ionizing radiation to which people are exposed. The project will develop advanced tools to enhance training programmes and establish auditing systems, creating quality control, audit, and education tools to support the establishment of a global workforce capable of meeting growing and evolving demands.
Radiopharmaceutical therapy, which involves using unsealed radionuclides to deliver radiation to tumour cells, offers viable treatment options to some cancer patients. The efficacy of this targeted therapy, however, depends on the successful delivery of radiation to tumours while simultaneously sparing normal tissues. Yet, despite their importance in assuring safe, effective and consistent high-quality care, dose calculation systems are not widely available. Radiopharmaceutical therapy dosimetry also requires a dynamic approach due to variability in dosimetry methods and the ever-growing range of targeting agents, radionuclides, and delivery mechanisms as the field of radiopharmaceutical therapy rapidly develops.
Against this backdrop, the IAEA is conducting research with medical physicists from institutions across the globe to minimize variability and ensure accuracy and reproducibility in radiopharmaceutical therapy dose calculations. Through this coordinated research project (CRP), the IAEA will provide tools and training resources for medical physicists, with the aim of ultimately improving patient outcomes while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. As a foundational step, the CRP will also identify, define and establish a minimum standard of qualifications, skills, and training requirements that medical physicists specializing in this therapy must possess.
This new CRP builds upon a previous project, “Dosimetry in Molecular Radiotherapy for Personalized Patient Treatments” (E23005), which concluded in August 2024. Research under that project notably informed to the development of Dosimetry for Radiopharmaceutical Therapy – an IAEA publication that addresses educational gaps in medical physicist training and offers tools and methodologies for implementing a dosimetry-guided, patient-specific approach to radiopharmaceutical therapy.
CRP Overall Objective:
The primary objective is to strengthen radiopharmaceutical therapy dose calculations across countries through the implementation of relevant and appropriate tools for quality control, audit and education.
Specific research objectives:
- Develop and review standardized tools, test objects (such as phantoms and models) and associated software to support accurate clinical dose calculations
- Produce advanced training materials focused on clinical dosimetry education for clinically qualified medical physicists, clinicians, and technologists, that comprehensively cover the medical physics related components
- Test the tools and procedures developed under this CRP within the nuclear medicine community
- Generate guidelines on the minimum standard requirements for medical physicists working in radiopharmaceutical therapy
- Evaluate the impact of established training and optimization strategies on radiopharmaceutical therapy quality and consistency
