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An improved 62Zn/62Cu generator based on a cation exchanger and its fully remote-controlled preparation for clinical use.

Fukumura T, Okada K, Suzuki H, Nakao R, Mukai K, Szelecsényi F, Kovács Z, Suzuki K

Department of Medical Imaging, Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry Section, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba 263-8555, Japan. t_fukumu@nirs.go.jp

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to develop an improved (62)Zn/(62)Cu generator based on cation exchange resin and remote preparation at high radioactivity scale for clinical use. METHODS: A natural Cu target was irradiated with proton beam in the energy range of 30-->19 MeV at a beam current of 10 muA for 1 h to obtain around 1.7 GBq of (62)Zn. The (62)Zn was isolated from the Cu target on an anion exchange column with more than 97% yield within 2.5 h from the EOB. The (62)Zn/(62)Cu generator was prepared by loading the (62)Zn(2+) on a Sep-Pak plus CM cartridge. RESULTS: The generator showed high elution efficiency ( approximately 96%) using a small volume (ca. 3 ml) of a 200-mM glycine solution with a very low breakthrough of (62)Zn (<0.1%). CONCLUSIONS: This (62)Zn/(62)Cu generator has been proven to be highly useful as a source of (62)Cu for the synthesis of (62)Cu-labeled compounds. The clinical application of [(62)Cu]Cu-ATSM produced with this generator has been already approved by the Institutional Review Board at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences.

Published 28 August 2006 in Nucl Med Biol, 33(6): 821-7.
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