²²⁶Ra Induced Bone-cancers: The Effects of a Delayed Na-alginate Treatment

Summary

At the present time no unequivocal evidence exists which shows that a reduction in the body-burden of a radionuclide by decorporative treatment results in a proportional decrease in the risk of long-term radiation effects. We have investigated the effectiveness of the daily administration of Na-alginate via the diet in removing ²²⁶Ra from the skeleton and in reducing the number of late effects such as osteosarcomas. The animals used were male C57Bl mice which had been injected with one of three different amounts of ²²⁶Ra (4·4, 10·7 or 24·8 kBq) four days prior to the onset of the decorporative treatment. The results showed that although this treatment was able to produce a substantial reduction in the ²²⁶Ra content of the mice it did not reduce the incidence of osteosarcoma. These results question the effectiveness of decorporation procedures initiated at longer times after contamination.