Cell killing by Auger emitters located outside the nucleus
In plain words
Some radioactive atoms release electrons that mostly travel less than a thousandth of a millimetre, so they should harm a cell only if they are right next to its DNA. Reports of killing when the atoms are on the cell surface or in other compartments challenge that picture.
Precise statement
Quantify cell killing per decay for Auger-electron emitters (I-125, In-111, Tc-99m, Ga-67) localized in the nucleus, the cytoplasm, the mitochondria and the cell membrane, and compare with the absorbed dose to the nucleus computed by cellular S-values (tabulated dose per decay between cell compartments) and track-structure codes. An answer is a ratio of observed to predicted effect per compartment, and the identification of any non-nuclear target or signalling pathway needed to explain a ratio above 1.
What would settle it
Survival and DNA-damage measurements with emitters chemically confined to each compartment, with measured subcellular activity distributions and calculated nuclear dose.
Status in the literature
Reviews around 2019 cite membrane and mitochondrial targeting effects that nuclear-dose calculations do not reproduce.