Monte Carlo simulations for targeted alpha therapy

This chapter provides a description of the fundamental physics mechanisms at the basis of Targeted alpha therapy (TAT) and an overview of the clinical perspective of TAT to contextualize the use of MC simulations in this therapeutic space. It follows with an overview of examples of MC simulations aimed to support the development of emitter production processes and radiation detectors of interest for TAT. Monoclonal antibodies to target specific antigens or receptors have been used effectively to control the progression of different cancers. However, cancer specific antibodies alone can be insufficient to control cancer progression. Monoclonal antibodies labeled with radionuclides form radioimmunoconjugates, which can deliver high dose radiation directly to the cancer cells. The dosimetric approach is affected by severe limitations when applied to TAT because the concept of dose, which is a deterministic physical quantity, averaged over a "large" volume, fails when the range of the incident radiation is similar to a few cells.