Production of no-carrier-added Lu via the Yb(n,)YbLu process

Hashimoto, Kazuyuki; Matsuoka, Hiromitsu; Uchida, Shoji*

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 255(3), p.575 - 579, 2003/03

https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022557121351

The emitter Lu is a promising therapeutic radioisotope for the treatment of cancer. It has a half-life of 6.73 days and maximum energy of 498 keV, resulting in a short range of radiation in tissue. The decay is accompanied by the emission of low energy -radiation with = 208 keV (11.0%) and 113 keV (6.4%) suitable for simultaneous imaging. Lutetium-177 can be usually produced at nuclear reactors with high yield and high specific radioactivity by the Lu(n,)Lu reaction. However, radioisotopes with higher specific radioactivity are required in the field of radioimmunotherapy using labeled monoclonal antibodies. Thus, an alternative production route, namely the Yb(n,)Yb Lu process was studied to produce no-carrier-added (nca) Lu in this work. The radiochemical separation of the nca Lu from the macroscopic ytterbium target was investigated by means of reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC. The nca Lu was obtained in radiochemical pure form with a separation yield of 80%.