# Alpha vs beta emitters

Source: https://nuclide.cc/terms/alpha-vs-beta/  
Nuclide record `alpha-vs-beta` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from Nuclide (nuclide.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Beta particles (lutetium-177) travel millimetres and are good for bulky disease; alpha particles (actinium-225) travel a few cells' width and kill with far higher energy.

## Summary

This is about alpha particles versus beta particles in radioligand therapy, not the alpha/beta ratio of the linear-quadratic model used in external-beam fractionation. Beta and alpha emitters are the two kinds of particle used in radioligand therapy. Beta particles from lutetium-177 have low linear energy transfer and a range of 1 to 10 mm, so their crossfire helps in heterogeneous bulky tumours at the cost of marrow toxicity. Alpha particles from actinium-225 have very high linear energy transfer, around 100 keV per micrometre, travel only 50 to 100 micrometres and cause oxygen-independent DNA breaks, though daughter recoil redistributes dose and actinium-225 supply is the bottleneck. The distinction underlies the Radioligand therapy (beta emitters) and Targeted alpha therapy technologies and the pairing Beta radioligand to alpha radioligand, and it is referenced by Radium-223 dichloride and the Neuroendocrine tumours entry.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-04

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeted_alpha-particle_therapy
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeted_alpha-particle_therapy

## Connected records

- isotopes: [Actinium-225](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/ac-225/), [Lutetium-177](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/lu-177/), [Radium-223](https://nuclide.cc/isotopes/ra-223/)
- technologies: [Alpha-emitter nanogenerators and daughter trapping](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/alpha-nanogenerators/), [Auger-electron therapy](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/auger-electron-therapy/), [Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/radioligand-therapy/), [Targeted alpha therapy](https://nuclide.cc/technologies/targeted-alpha-therapy/)
- indications: [Neuroendocrine tumours](https://nuclide.cc/indications/neuroendocrine/)
- drugs: [Radium-223 dichloride](https://nuclide.cc/drugs/radium-223/)
- companies: [Perspective Therapeutics](https://nuclide.cc/companies/perspective-therapeutics/)
- institutions: [Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital](https://nuclide.cc/institutions/oslo-radium-hospital/), [QST Hospital (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology)](https://nuclide.cc/institutions/qst-hospital/)
- terms: [Half-life](https://nuclide.cc/terms/half-life/), [Linear energy transfer (LET)](https://nuclide.cc/terms/linear-energy-transfer/), [PRRT (peptide receptor radionuclide therapy)](https://nuclide.cc/terms/prrt-term/), [Relative biological effectiveness (RBE)](https://nuclide.cc/terms/relative-biological-effectiveness/)
- pairings: [Beta PRRT → alpha PRRT](https://nuclide.cc/pairings/prrt-then-alpha-net/), [Beta radioligand → alpha radioligand](https://nuclide.cc/pairings/beta-then-alpha/)
- ideas: [Alpha-emitting PSMA therapy at first metastatic diagnosis](https://nuclide.cc/ideas/idea-alpha-first-mhspc/), [Fund alpha emitters beyond actinium-225: lead-212, terbium-149 and astatine-211](https://nuclide.cc/ideas/idea-reg-alpha-emitter-portfolio/), [Regional cyclotron hubs for actinium-225 with an agreed actinium-227 impurity limit](https://nuclide.cc/ideas/idea-reg-ac225-accelerator-pharmacopoeia/)
- bottlenecks: [Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines](https://nuclide.cc/bottlenecks/b-manufacturing-cell-therapy/), [Wrong doses](https://nuclide.cc/bottlenecks/b-dose-optimisation/)
- key papers: [VISION: lutetium-177 PSMA-617 radioligand therapy extends survival in advanced prostate cancer](https://nuclide.cc/key-papers/paper-vision-nejm-2021/)
- fronts: [Targeted alpha therapy](https://nuclide.cc/fronts/f-alpha-therapy/)

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