Charles Pecher | |
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| Born | 26 November 1913 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Died | 28 August 1941 (aged 27) Joliette, Canada |
| Citizenship | Belgium |
| Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles |
| Known for | Nuclear medicine |
Charles Pecher (26 November 1913 – 28 August 1941) was a Belgian pioneer in nuclear medicine. He discovered and introduced strontium-89 in medical therapeutic procedures in 1939.
He was the first to report a possible therapeutic role for the beta emitting radionuclide strontium-89 in the palliation of bone pain associated with metastatic bone disease. His autoradiographies of animals or organs after administration of strontium-89 or phosphorus-32 started the development of bone scintigraphy.
The groundbreaking work of Pecher was forgotten for decades due to the classification of information linked to the Manhattan project. The therapeutic use of 89Sr was only approved in 1993 for the palliative treatment of breast and prostate cancers metastatic to the bones for use in the US and became the first bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical that came into widespread use.