A new chapter in the medical community’s drive to target cancer cells without destroying healthy cells began this week, as construction started on a $62 million expansion to the cyclotron lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to a report in the Wisconsin State Journal.
The two-floor vertical expansion of the lab will house two new, more powerful cyclotrons, which are refrigerator-sized particle accelerators used in medical and scientific research.
When the new space opens in 2027, it will enable UW-Madison researchers to create radiopharmaceuticals, which are used in nuclear medicine, and diagnose cancer patients and other patients in one facility.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, applications for radiopharmaceuticals range from the imaging of organs to the treatment of diseases such as cancer and hyperthyroidism.
The medical and scientific communities have been trying to develop alternatives to radiation and chemotherapy, where healthy tissue is damaged along with cancer cells.
The use of targeted radioactive material has proven to be effective in destroying cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue.
