Saskatchewan's Cyclotron Now Supplying Radioisotopes to Royal University Hospital

“The Government of Canada is committed to supporting innovation in all fields and improving access to health care for Canadians,” said Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.  “We are inspired by the work of the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences in pursuing these goals, and proud to assist in these endeavours.”

“Our government’s Growth Plan includes an innovation agenda to ensure our province continues to grow and thrive, to diversify and create jobs for the future,” Premier Brad Wall said.  “In 2011, we committed $30 million to the Sylvia Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation and $13 million to building the cyclotron, the outcome of that investment we are recognizing today.  Not only are new, technical jobs being created, we will now be providing medical isotopes right here in Saskatchewan that will improve health care for many Saskatchewan patients.  In addition, the isotopes will also assist our world-leading agricultural researchers in areas like plant nutrition and animal science.  This is exactly the kind of investment needed to continue to move our province and our economy forward.”

“The Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan is the foundation of a growing community of researchers in the province who will use the radioisotopes produced by the cyclotron to conduct ground-breaking research in human, animal and plant health,” University of Saskatchewan Vice-President Research Karen Chad.

“The completion of the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences is a significant achievement for the Fedoruk Centre, the University of Saskatchewan and the province’s nuclear imaging and nuclear medicine communities,” Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation Executive Director Neil Alexander said.  “Now with a fully operational cyclotron, radioisotopes produced in the province are available for Saskatchewan patients and for Saskatchewan researchers.  This achievement was made possible by the tireless efforts of the cyclotron team and the contributions of partners from across the country.”

QUICK FACTS:

Radioisotopes are unstable atoms that become stable by emitting radiation through the process of radioactive decay.  There are many different radioisotopes: the radioisotope that most Canadians are aware of is the medical isotope molybdenum-99, produced by the NRU nuclear reactor at Chalk River.  Medical isotopes are radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine procedures.

Medical isotope shortage: A shortage of molybdenum-99 due to the shutdown of the NRU in 2009, ageing research reactors around the world, and pressure from the U.S. government to cease production of medical radioisotopes using highly-enriched uranium led to research efforts around the world to come up with other ways to produce molybdenum-99 or its product technetium-99m, which is used in heart and bone scans.  This included the Medical Isotope Project at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) in Saskatoon.  The research and development work is now being undertaken by Canadian Isotope Innovations, a spin-off of the CLS.

Cyclotron-produced medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals: The Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences and other cyclotrons commonly produce the radioisotope fluorine-18, the active ingredient in the imaging agent used in PET-CT scans.  When the imaging agent (called a radiopharmaceutical) is injected into a patient, it is absorbed by the patient’s cells – the more active the cells, the more imaging agent is absorbed.

As the radioisotope decays, the release of radiation is detected by the PET-CT scanner.  This is then combined with a three-dimensional X-ray to provide physicians with a picture of where the most active cells in a patient’s body, such as cancer cells, are located.  The information is vital to detecting and tracking cancers.

How a cyclotron works: Cyclotrons produce radioisotopes by bombarding a target material with a beam of subatomic particles (protons).  Nuclear reactions between the beam and the atoms within the target convert them into radioisotopes.  The resulting radioisotope is separated and chemically tagged to an imaging agent for clinical and research use.

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For more information, contact:

Kathy Young
Government of Saskatchewan
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0425
Email: kathy.young@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-526-8927

Matthew Dalzell
Fedoruk Centre
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-966-3379 
Email: matthew.dalzell@fedorukcentre.ca
Cell: 306-280-6245

Jennifer Thoma 
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-966-1851 
Email: jennifer.thoma@usask.ca
Cell: 306-270-4513

Rhonda Laing
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Phone: 306-975-5944 
Email: rhonda.laing@canada.ca