08/12/2025
Cancer changes your life in an instant. When Yonatan Edvi was diagnosed with , he had to make difficult decisions about treatments, including participating in a pioneering clinical trial with Alpha DaRT. This is his story.
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My name is Yonatan Edvi. I am 47 years old, married with four children, and I live in Modiin. I currently manage a regional office at Maccabi Health Services, and previously, I served as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for about seven years.
Three and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I have never smoked and have generally been a healthy person. Until last year, I participated in triathlons. I discovered the cancer by chance after a race - I had bronchitis, and a chest X-ray revealed a suspicious spot that turned out to be cancer.
After having received extensive radiation to my lungs, I was still looking for a different solution. My oncologist referred me to Dr. Philip Blumenfeld and the Alpha DaRT clinical trial. I had heard about Alpha TAU a few years earlier, and I decided to join the trial based on my oncologist’s recommendation. I felt this was the rational option. Dr. Blumenfeld explained all the details of the treatment, and it seemed very simple and clear. The tumor’s location was also ideal for this approach. I had no doubts - if the doctor said to proceed, I went ahead, as part of a decision I got after being diagnosed, to trust my care giver. And this option felt right and promising.
The treatment was done in three stages. The first visit checked that a bronchoscope could reach the tumor. The second visit was the treatment itself, with insertion of radium-224 sources. The third visit checked the effect of the treatment. I was told that I was the second lung patient in the world to receive Alpha DaRT, so no one could predict exactly how I would feel afterward. I was out of commission for about two weeks. My urine changed color, and my body felt weak because of the radium-224 inside. I had undergone radiation before, but this treatment is designed to work from inside the tumor. It was a hard couple of weeks, but we are over it now.
I strongly recommend participating in the . For me, it was very successful. Compared with chemotherapy and conventional radiation, this was the least devastating option. I call Alpha DaRT the medicine of the future - it’s a treatment that doesn’t destroy your body. Luckily for me, follow-up PET scans showed a reduction in the tumor.
I am a satisfied patient, but of course, I hope no one ever needs this treatment.
Disclaimer: What is written reflects only the experience of the patient and does not guarantee similar outcomes or results for other patients.