Implant seeds were developed by Leipunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (Rosatom’s Research and Development Division). They are three times cheaper than their foreign alternatives, making brachytherapy affordable for more cancer patients in Russia.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. Brachytherapy is a promising and effective treatment for this disease. During the treatment, the maximum radiation dose is delivered directly to the tumor, without damaging neighboring tissues and organs.
In the past, Russian doctors used imported radioactive seeds, which were very expensive for cancer patients. “Radioactive implant seeds developed in the Leipunsky Institute are much cheaper than imported implants. These life-saving operations are now affordable for patients whose treatment is financed from public sources,” says Director Andrei Goverdovsky.
The first effort to develop radioactive seeds was made about 10 years ago. After years of research, the institute has obtained a high-tech product made domestically and having a large export potential. A new production facility for radioactive seeds is ready for launch in Obninsk. “We will soon obtain all the required licenses and certificates and will enter the market,” says Goverdovsky.
The production facility occupies two floors of the Leipunsky Institute’s radioactive laboratory. Here silver wire is covered with iodine-125 and placed into the titanium pill, which is then laser-welded to seal the radioactive substance inside and prevent it from getting into the human body. After the implant seeds are leak-tested, they are decontaminated and transferred to the clean zone. Here they are semi-automatically sorted into groups by radioactivity, and each radioactivity group of seeds receives a certificate.
Implant seeds are then sterilized and braided with dissolvable threads into the so called ‘strands’, sets of 10 seeds each. At the last production step, radioactive seeds are packed in stainless steel containers and vacuumized before the final sterilization.
“Rosatom’s Research and Development Division is in active pursuit of radioactive technologies and solutions in demand on the domestic and international markets. Nuclear medicine is on the list of our priority areas,” explained Vyacheslav Pershukov, Rosatom Deputy CEO for Innovation Management. “Cancer treatment with Russian-made iodine-125 implant seeds is a specific result of many years’ research by Rosatom Group companies. Rosatom technologies save lives.”
