The 143rd Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (Sapporo)

Organizer: Kazuma Ogawa, Hiroyuki Kimura

Radiopharmaceuticals are essential for diagnosis and therapy in nuclear medicine. With the approval of a drug for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE: Lutathera®) in Japan in 2021, therapy in nuclear medicine has been attracting a great deal of attention in recent years. As a result, the development of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals has entered a new phase. In addition, developing many types of radiopharmaceuticals, such as small molecules, peptides, antibodies, and nanoparticles, is promoted. On the other hand, boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), approved in 2020, is a cancer treatment method using Li nuclei and alpha particles generated by in vivo nuclear reaction to boron (¹⁰B) drugs accumulated in cancer by neutron irradiation. Naturally, BNCT needs drugs with ¹⁰B. Common to both therapies are "radiation and drugs," and great expectations are placed on pharmaceutical sciences, especially about drugs. In this symposium, we would like to discuss this field's current status and future prospects by inviting researchers conducting cutting-edge research in their respective fields as speakers.