Radiopharmaceuticals and General Methods of Radiolabeling

Abstract

A radiopharmaceutical is a radioactive compound used for the diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of human diseases. In nuclear medicine nearly 95% of the radiopharmaceuticals are used for diagnostic purposes, while the rest are used for therapeutic treatment. Radiopharmaceuticals usually have minimal pharmacologic effect, because in most cases they are used in tracer quantities. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals can cause tissue damage by radiation. Because they are administered to humans, they should be sterile and pyrogen free, and should undergo all quality control measures required of a conventional drug. A radiopharmaceutical may be a radioactive element such as 133Xe, or a labeled compound such as 131I-iodinated proteins and 99mTc-labeled compounds.