Investigation of Auger Electron Emitting Radionuclides Effects in Therapy Using the Geant4-DNA Toolkit: A Simulation Study

Parvin   Ahmadi; Mojtaba   Shamsaei Zafar Ghandi; Aliasghar   Shokri

doi:10.18502/fbt.v8i2.6511

Parvin Ahmadi Department of Physics, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
Mojtaba Shamsaei Zafar Ghandi Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Aliasghar Shokri Department of Physics, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/fbt.v8i2.6511

Keywords: Geant 4-DNA; Auger Electron; Double-Strand Break; Single-Strand Break; Radionuclide; Targeted Therapy.

Abstract

Purpose: The biological effects of ionizing radiation at the cellular and subcellular scales are studied by the number of breaks in the DNA molecule that provides a quantitative description of the stochastic aspects of energy deposition at cellular scales. The Geant4 code represents a suitable theoretical toolkit in microdosimetry and nanodosimetry. In this study, radiation effects due to Auger electrons emitting radionuclides such as ¹⁹⁵mPt ^113mIn, ¹²⁵I and ²⁰¹Tl are investigated using the Geant4-DNA.

Materials and Methods: The Geant4-DNA is the first Open-access software for the simulation of ionizing radiation and biological damage at the DNA scale. Low-energy electrons, especially Auger electron from Auger electron emitting radionuclides during the slowing-down process, deposit their energy within a nanometer volume.

Results: The average number of Single-Strand Breaks (SSB) and Double-Strand Breaks (DSB) of DNA as a function of energy and distance from the center of the DNA axis are shown.

Conclusion: The highest DSBs yield has occurred at energies less than 1 keV, and induces a higher DSBs yield.