Separation of nuclear isomers for cancer therapeutic radionuclides based on nuclear decay after-effects

R. Bhardwaj, A. Van Der Meer, S. K. Das, M. De Bruin, J. Gascon, H. T. Wolterbeek, A. G. Denkova, P. Serra-Crespo*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    18 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    177 Lu has sprung as a promising radionuclide for targeted therapy. The low soft tissue penetration of its β - emission results in very efficient energy deposition in small-size tumours. Because of this, 177 Lu is used in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumours and is also clinically approved for prostate cancer therapy. In this work, we report a separation method that achieves the challenging separation of the physically and chemically identical nuclear isomers, 177m Lu and 177 Lu. The separation method combines the nuclear after-effects of the nuclear decay, the use of a very stable chemical complex and a chromatographic separation. Based on this separation concept, a new type of radionuclide generator has been devised, in which the parent and the daughter radionuclides are the same elements. The 177m Lu/ 177 Lu radionuclide generator provides a new production route for the therapeutic radionuclide 177 Lu and can bring significant growth in the research and development of 177 Lu based pharmaceuticals.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number44242
    JournalScientific Reports
    Volume7
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Mar 13 2017

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General

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