EVERETT, Wash. — An estimated 611,000 Americans are expected to die from cancer by the end of this year, but Everett-based researchers hope that a new therapy, still in trials, will help reduce that number in the years ahead.
Bill Gates' nuclear power venture, TerraPower Isotopes, has become the first to boost production of a radioactive substance that has shown new promise in the fight against cancer, called actinium-225.
"For the first time, this facility is now at scale, operational, and producing actinium-225," said TerraPower president Scott Claunch, a radiopharmacist.
Inside the Everett lab, researchers handle a substance so powerful and radioactive that it can only be safely managed through a wall. “To keep our employees safe,” said Claunch.
“The U.S. government is one of the sovereign nations that developed the parent of this isotope, uranium-233, during the Cold War.”
Using a natural decay method to produce actinium-225 free of isotopic impurities, they have found a way to repurpose the U.S. government's weapons waste.
Actinium-225 is now being tested in trials of a process called Targeted Alpha Therapy, which Claunch said can target cancerous tumors with precision.
“It irreversibly destroys the DNA of the cancerous cell,” said Claunch. “For the first time, this facility is now at-scale, operational, and producing actinium-225 and selling it globally to drug manufacturers."
Historically, actinium-225 was too difficult to produce. “Quite simply put, actinium-225, there’s not enough of it," said Claunch.
According to the Department of Energy's (DOE) website, one place in the world has produced the majority of actinium-225 for decades: their Oak Ridge National Laboratory. However, with a scarce supply, they were only able to treat fewer than 100 patients annually in early trials.
With TerraPower's latest breakthrough, they should be able to make enough actinium-225 to utilize in up to 400,000 doses of cancer treatments every year, for several years to come, according to Claunch.
"And it does kill tumors,” said Claunch. "We'll be able to keep [cancer] at bay, which is an incredible promise."
Targeted Alpha Therapy works by delivering all of its energy directly to cancerous cells, according to Claunch. "It really spares normal, healthy tissue," he said.
Although the therapy is not expected to hit the market until 2028, Claunch said major drug companies are already testing it, such as Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, and others.
The therapy, which Claunch said is infused into the patient's body through a shot in the arm, shows promising aftereffects. He said he's heard several anecdotal stories about trial patients reporting a lack of painful side effects that are commonly associated with cancer treatments.
"After a few days, they will go home and they'll wonder, I'm not feeling awful. In fact, I'm feeling better. Did you guys treat me?" said Claunch.
According to the DOE, researchers are now investigating what dosages would maximize effectiveness while minimizing the drug's toxicity.
While the treatment is still in its trial phase, it offers hope in the ongoing battle against cancer. Although the company is headquartered in Bellevue, the groundbreaking production process was developed in a lab in Everett.
"Most of the solid-tumor cancers that are being investigated now-- some of the ones that are that are commonly referred to-- [are] prostate cancer, for sure, colon cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer," said Claunch.
He added, "I'm incredibly proud to work alongside the team that we've amassed here, some of the greatest minds."