Verification of dose estimation of Auger electrons emitted from Cu-64 using a combination of FNTD measurements and Monte Carlo simulations

Kusumoto, Tamon*; Matsuya, Yusuke  ; Baba, Kentaro*; Ogawara, Ryo*; Akselrod, M. S.*; Harrison, J.*; Fomenko, V.*; Kai, Takeshi   ; Ishikawa, Masayori*; Hasegawa, Sumitaka*; Kodaira, Satoshi*

Internal radiation therapy with Cu-64 concentrates energy deposition in tumor cells by virtue of released Auger electrons with low energy. In our previous study, we have attached the solutions at the surface of Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detector (FNTD) and succeeded in measuring the absorbed doses of Auger electrons registered in FNTD. However, because there are several types of radiation emitted from the source, i.e., beta rays, positron etc., the contribution degree of Auger electron to energy concentration remain uncertain. In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the spatial dose distribution in the FNTD based on Monte Carlo simulation with PHITS and GEANT4, and evaluated high dose deposited by Auger electrons. The dose distribution calculated by the PHITS code is exactly equivalent to that by Geant4. Also, the simulations are well agreement with experimental results. If the contribution of Auger electrons is ignored, the significantly high absorbed dose proximal to the source is not properly reduced. These findings demonstrate that Auger electrons work very effectively to kill cancer cells proximal to Cu-64 source while minimizing damage effects on normal cells distal to the source.